


You Reap What You Sow

by marcky_o1



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Goblin, Angst, Anime inspired, Cameos by - Freeform, DEATH OBVIOUSLY, Grim reaper Seungcheol, Hansol | vernon, Happy Ending, Humour, M/M, Platonic Jeongcheol, Red String of Fate, Side story meanie, Soonyoung | hoshi, Soulmates, Spirit Jeonghan, Supernatural Elements, Teacher Joshua, Uncertain Feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2018-11-28 09:24:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11414979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marcky_o1/pseuds/marcky_o1
Summary: As a grim reaper, Seungcheol is tasked with accompanying the souls of the dead to the other side. When Jeonghan gets murdered, he refuses to cross over wanting to ensure his boyfriend, Joshua's, happiness. Cheol just wanted a vacation but Fate had other plans.The story of soulmates caught between love and celestial rules





	1. Death is just the beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back y'all with a non-smut fic for once. I just thought of this one night and had the urge to write it. I feel like there's a lot of writing styles here but i think it's still somewhat cohesive. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoy and if you find it too cheesy or smtg please let me know ;-)

After three days of incessant rain, the clouds over Seoul were finally dispersing on the chilly Wednesday night. Unlike most, the rain had never really bothered Seungcheol. The dark and lonely atmosphere that the rain brought matched his usual attire of black suits and sombre expression.

As the rain settled down, Seungcheol stepped out in a black trench coat to accomplish his last run of the night. It would be his last job for awhile having been promised at least two weeks vacation. He had done enough overtime to have earn that break not that he ever complained about working more than was expected.

Two men rushed past him taking no notice of his presence. His younger self would have probably intervened but over time and with countless reprimand from his seniors he had learned not to meddle in the affairs of mortals. The Gods had given him, along with his colleagues, one task and that was to collect the souls of the dead. 

Walking up to an alley, he called to a man leaning against the wall.

“Mr. Yoon,” he called out.

The man stayed still seemingly unable to hear Seungcheol over the light drizzle still occurring.

“Yoon Jeonghan,” he declared louder than before.

That caught the other man’s attention who looked over to the man in black. To an ordinary person, Jeonghan’s glossy eyes and slightly dazed expression would have indicated a certain state of drunkenness but Seungcheol knew better.

“Are you Yoon Jeonghan?,” Seungcheol asked wanting to confirm what he already knew. 

“Yes and who might you be?”

“Yoon Jeonghan, age 25, dead by stabbing on October 13th at 9:17 PM”

The other man starred back blankly before bursting out in a fit of laughter.

“Listen you’re cute and all but one that has to be the worst pick up line in the world and two I’m already in a relationship so I’ll have to pass.”

Seungcheol starred back unamused moving his eyes from Jeonghan to the body laying mere feet from them. Jeonghan followed the others line of sight until he encountered the body on the floor. The sharp jawline, perfect nose and blonde mid length hair had an eery resemblance to his own features. Even the clothes matched the ones he was wearing right now. The only discernible difference was the four bloodied wounds across the man’s chest. The wounds seemed to have been caused by a knife and looked deep enough to kill…

In Seungcheol’s experience, murdered spirits tended to have one of two reactions at the discovery of their deaths. Either they went into a fit of hysteria or shut themselves up entirely until their passing. Jeonghan fell into the former.

“Th-That body is ME! IT CAN’T BE ME! I WAS - I AM ALIVE”

Seungcheol sighed. Of course his last case before vacation had to be a difficult one. Murders were always difficult even more so when young men were involved. The fragility of life never seemed to cross the minds of these men who thought themselves invincible. 

“Mr. Yoon if you would be kind enough to follow me”

“FOLLOW YOU! IS THIS A JOKE? WHY ARE THERE HOLES IN MY BODY,” Jeonghan screamed way too loud for this time of night. Thankfully no one else could hear his outburst other than a few other souls waiting to be escorted. He quickly went over to check the pulse of the body only to have his hands go right through the body. More experienced spirits could generally switch between tangible and intangible entities but new or emotionally unstable ghosts tended to stick to their purely intangible form.

The man in black turned around and started walking out of the alley. Arguing with spirits only ever led to more unnecessary paper work. Jeonghan’s eyes lit up with fury as he saw the action as nothing more than an act of disrespect. He immediately got up and ran to the mysterious man that a was making his way out of the alley. 

“Hey! You can’t just leave!,” Jeonghan exclaimed as he reached for Seungcheol’s sleeve. 

At the slightest contact both men were transported to a small brightly lit room that strongly contrasted the dark alley. The room was minimally furnished with a rectangular oak table supported by wrought iron shaped into delicate branches. Single stools of similar wood sat on either side of the table both supported with the same iron legs as the table. The walls behind the stools were decorated with large panes of mostly stained glass. Even though it was the middle of the night, bright rays of sunlight shun thought the windows filling the room with natural light. On the other two walls, stood heavy oak doors with iron wings engrained within as if the tree had possessed veins of that shape. The room was almost completely symmetrical and gave off a timeless vibe.

Jeonghan was taken aback by the sudden shift in location and the serene location. They had seemingly appeared within the room without using either of the doors, which bore no visible door knob that would allow exit from the room. This detail only served to peak the young man’s interest to what lay behind these doors.

All agitation and panic seemed to have left the spirit as soon as he had entered the room. This was no mere coincidence. Seungcheol knew that this room was specifically built to soothe the souls of passing spirits and prevent any external factors from causing any further agitation. The scent of jasmine also permeated the room probably due to countless tea that was brewed over centuries. 

Seungcheol cleared his throat before speaking again.

“Yoon Jeonghan I am here to help you cross over to the afterlife. If you would be so kind as to -,”

“No,” Jeonghan cut off. Seungcheol blinked twice

“Excuse me”

“I’m not going to the afterlife”

“Mr. Yoon wi -,”

“Call me Jeonghan,” the young man cut him off yet again. Seungcheol continued to look back unimpressed.

“I see. Jeonghan with all due respect I need you to move on. Souls are not meant to wander.” 

It was an unspoken truth within his line of work that souls that wandered for too long ended up being chained to the terrestrial plane they no longer belonged to. It wasn’t a purely negative consequence but too many unreaped souls on earth was probably against the intended destiny of the Gods.

“Don't worry I won’t be wandering. I’ll get my body back and live with my husband until we’re old and senile. Then I'll happily cross over”

The pure denial of his death did not surprise the reaper in the least. Denial was a common symptom of grieving in both mourners and the dead. 

“I don’t think you fully grasp the situation. Jeonghan your soul left your body because it was no longer able to sustain life.”

“No problem then I'll just stay here until my husband’s passing,” the man said almost nonchalantly. 

That answer surprised the man in black. Humans often spoke of love but he only ever witnessed empty words of affection. How many souls had been abandoned during their time of need by their so called “loves”? It was uncommon to see love in its pure form while people were alive in was a rarity to see it after death.

Of course, it wasn't the mortals faults. Death had always been a selfish affair. Thus, Jeonghan’s selflessness to postpone his eternal rest in order to wait for his soulmate was a truly rare occurrence.

“I’m sorry Jeonghan but a soul that stays on this earth for too long may never be able to crossover. You may very well end up trading an eternal life together for a mere 50 years.”

“Hm I see so this world works very much like my own.” Seungcheol couldn’t help but give a confused expression at that comment.

“So how do bribes work here? I’m assuming money has no value. In exchange for my soul, can you ensure Joshua’s happiness?”

For the first time in a long time, Seungcheol was at a lost for words. He can’t even remember the last time someone offered their soul in exchange for something let alone something as selfless as someone else’s happiness. 

“Your so-oul?,” the reaper stuttered.

“Yes my soul. Does it have value? If I sell it to you, can you make sure my husband, Joshua, has a happy life?”

After a moment of silence, Seungcheol finally answered.

“Okay first of all we Grim Reaper’s don’t deal in the selling and consuming of souls. We simply help souls arrive to their intended destination. Your presence is just bothersome.”

“Second, how would I even make your husband happy?,” Seungcheol asked. 

Jeonghan couldn't help but smile. He was still able to easily manipulate his way through any situations even after he had passed. The reapers curiosity for the situation meant that he was one step closer to agreeing to whatever Jeonghan had to offer.

“I guess I’ll just stay here until we figure out how to make my Shua happy,” Hannie said triumphantly.

Unlike popular culture made people believe, reapers had very little tools at their disposition to make spirits forcibly cross over. They could control things in their surroundings such as temperature, light and other such things and could manipulate minds to a certain extent. However, the only ones with the real power were the ones in the higher echelons of the organization and the Divinity. Although letting Jeonghan stay in the human world technically isn’t a problem, Seungcheol would have to hand in additional paperwork for the reasons, causes and other facts that would probably be lost in a filing cabinet somewhere. It wouldn’t have bothered him on any other day but he deserved his vacation goddamnit. So he used the only tool he had left…fear.

The almost playful and warm Seungcheol made way for a cold and blank Grim Reaperwho had one goal: to make the pestering spirit walk through one of the doors. 

Jeonghan watched as the man in black hung his coat on a nearby hook and moved to a small table situated underneath one of the large windows. While he was preparing something that looked like tea, the spirit sat down on the delicate chair simply waiting. If this was a game of will, he definitely had to win. A shiver ran through his body and he took note of the temperature of the room.

_Was it this cold when we first arrived?,_ the ghost thought to himself.

His silent question would remain unanswered as Seungcheol made his way back to the table with a singular cup of steaming tea. He placed the dark cast iron cup down on the table and stared deeply into the others eyes.

“This is the tea faith. You will drink it and blissfully enter the afterlife,” as he was speaking a light blue flame arose from his shoulders and slowly crept its way down the table. The light streaming from the windows diminished to the point where the cool glow of the flames became the only light source.

“No-o,” Jeonghan faltered, significantly less confident than he was just a few moments ago.

At that, the blue flames rushed down the reapers shoulders like a waterfall and spread across the floor filling the joints with their heated passion. The whole display was terrifying to say the least.

“I will repeat myself one more time. Drink. The. Tea. And rest for eternity.” Seungcheol hope the threat was good enough considering that the flames produced no real heat and could not burn a human let alone a soul. They were mostly used in the metaphoric sense as guiding lights. 

“I um I…” Jeonghan seemed terrified and looked at the cup intensely. He was reaching for the cup when the sound of wind chimes filled the room.

Seungcheol head snapped and his eyes quickly found the wind chimes in the top right corner of the room moving lightly. The sight made him stop all displays of his power, the flames disappearing in the blink of an eye and the temperature of the room rising to its original state. 

Jeonghan looked around confused. He blinked twice before finally speaking.

“What was that about? Were you trying to scare me into drinking the tea?”

“Long story short I wanted you to cross in order to make my job easier but it looks like the Divinity had other plans”

“The Divinity? What the wind chimes??”

The reaper nodded.

Jeonghan had a lot more questions to ask but as he opened his mouth, one of the wooden doors flew open. A strong wind burst through forcing both men to close their eyes. From the doors emerged a blood red ribbon that wrapped around their ankles. When the door closed, Seungcheol looked down in horror at the ribbon that now bound both of them.

“What’s this?,” Hannie asked.

“Apparently the Gods have found it appropriate to bound us together until a condition they set has been met.” Cheol answered aggressively. “Just when i thought I’d get a vacation,” he sighed

“Do you know the condition then?”

The reaper couldn’t help but glare

***

As an early riser, Jisoo’s mornings always started early. The fact that his husband hadn’t come back yet didn't faze him. Jeonghan had probably spent the night at the office, which would have not been the first time.

As he was getting ready for work, the heard a knock at the door.

When he opened the door, he was greeted by a tall good looking man with sharp eyes and big doey eyes.

“Hong Jisoo?,” the man asked.

“Yes that’s me.”

“Yoon Jeonghan sent me to ensure your happiness”

Joshua wasted no time in slamming the door on the strangers face.


	2. A business trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah sorry about disappearing for a month basically after promising a quick update...oups. Anyways, here's the next chapter. I don't really know where I'm going with this story so all of you are in for a ride. I'm used to writing smut so writing scenes with sex not as an end game was more difficult than i thought.
> 
> As always, comments are strongly appreciated and enjoy!

Seungcheol turned to Jeonghan who was staring blankly back at him.

“What the hell was that?” Jeonghan asked stupefied.

“What do you mean? It’s not my fault your boyfriend obviously doesn’t want to be happy”

“You must be joking. Don’t you interact with humans on a daily basis. Shouldn’t you know basic human emotions?”

“In case you didn’t know, death isn’t usually accompanied by many emotions other than grief or anger.” Seungcheol deadpanned.

“Oh yeah. Anyways not important right now. We’re gonna try this again. You’ll just repeat after me.”

“Um i may not be an expert on human emotions but i’m fairly certain he wouldn’t want to speak to me again after slamming the door on my face”

“Just trust me. I know how to persuade Jisoo,” Jeonghan responded with a smirk that indicated nothing but trouble.

With no real plan laid out and a mind full of doubt, Seungcheol once again knocked on the door hesitantly. Unsurprisingly, Jisoo opened the door warily with the newly placed door chain separating him from the stranger. Any other person wouldn’t have even opened the door, but Joshua was far too polite to ignore the complete stranger knocking. 

“Hi again,” the doe eyed man stated blankly.

_Apologize for before and mention how Korean isn’t your first language. Joshua’s got a soft spot for foreigners._ Jeonghan whispered to the reaper as if he were afraid to be heard by his boyfriend.

“Sorry about before. I recently moved to Korea and my knowledge of the language is still fairly basic.”

Jisoo continued staring silently from behind the door still undetermined about the stranger’s intentions. 

_Tell him you work for me_

Seungcheol couldn’t help but glare at the ghost, which definitely did not help his cause with Jisoo. One does not usually openly glare at thin air.

“I work with Jeonghan and he told me you’d be able to show me around town while he’s gone,” S.Coups continued adding his signature puppy dog eyes.

“Jeonghan’s gone?,” Jisoo asked muttering his first words since the reaper came to his apartment.

“Uhhh yes! He went on a business trip overseas.”

 _What the hell are you saying. I’m not that bad of a boyfriend that I’d leave without telling Joshua,_ Jeonghan screamed into Seungcheol’s ear. The whispering tone he had adopted was dropped either due to panic or the realization that Jisoo could neither hear nor see the spirit.

At the news of his boyfriend’s “departure”, Jisoo’s quiet demeanour made way for a a wave of liquid hot fury. The man may love Jeonghan but it didn’t stop him from being incredibly done with his boyfriend’s antics.

“He went to America without telling me! And goes without even bothering to warn me about his foreign co-worker needing help in Seoul!,” Jisoo burst out completely startling Seungcheol.

_See now he’s angry,_

“Un-fricking-believable!”

_Joshua can’t be stopped when he’s angry._

“I swear one day-“

_You should run. Maybe we -_

All the reaper had wanted was a quiet vacation away from any drama or excitement. This was exactly the opposite of what he had in mind. Jeonghan’s incessant screaming and Joshua’s anger was far too noisy and chaotic for his liking. His patience had reached its breaking point, which resulted in his eyes flashing an icy blue before the whole scene around him came to a halt.

One of the few techniques available to lower ranked grim reapers was the ability to stop the movement of all particles around them, effectively causing temporary death. In less dramatic terms, they could freeze their surroundings for a period of time that depended on the skill of the reaper. Having worked in the business for a considerable amount of time, Seungcheol’s skill had improved to the point that the technique no longer required his full attention for the time stop to continue.

He took this opportunity to first catch a breath and give a lengthy glare to both individuals even if they would not be able to see it. Jeonghan was frozen mid scream with his mouth wide open, eyes bulging and his hair flying in every possible directions. From what Seungcheol could see through the small opening of the door, Joshua was staring at the floor, mid sentence as well except his whole demeanour seemed more pouty than angry. Rather than looking mad at his boyfriend, Josh’s frozen state showed more fond disappointment with no real harshness.

 _That’s kinda cute actually_ , Seungcheol thought to himself immediately regretting that train of thought. _Now is not the time for this Seungcheol_ , he scolded himself before returning to the problem at hand.

He pinched the bridge of his nose wondering why the hell his vacation had to be ruined by this kind of nonsense. He could only guess what type of twisted humour the divinity had to be playing this game with a humble servant. After a quick glance at the frozen couple, Cheol decided to finally face the situation head on and unfreeze the both of them. 

The greatest advantage of the reaper’s technique is that mortals never noticed the freezing unless they looked at the time. This meant that the screaming Jeonghan and annoyed Joshua started right back where they had stopped. The reaper loudly cleared his throat, which made both men immediately stop their rants and direct their attention towards him. 

“I don’t wanna get in the middle of your relationship but I may have misspoke,” Seungcheol told Jisoo with the softest voice he could muster. “He left for Hong Kong not America, and he didn’t tell you only because it was very last minute. The client wanted the photoshoot done by tomorrow and the models were already in China so he had to fly over right away.”

When the reaper finished his explanation, Joshua looked apologetic with his soft brown eyes looking through the small opening of the door. A few seconds passed and the young man slowly closed the door. Cheol looked stunned until he heard something scratching the door. Sure enough, his suspicions were confirmed when Jisoo reopened the door except this time without the chain lock firmly separating the two of them.

“Listen,” Seungcheol started again. “I never meant to bother you. I’ll wait until Jeonghan gets back to show me around”

“Wait,” Joshua replied with a soft sigh. "I'm sorry I reacted the way I did. I was upset with Jeonghan and I took it out on you. I have work now but I’d be glad to show you around later today. How about I meet you in front of your office at 4pm”

“My office? How do you know where that is?,” the reaper asked suspiciously.

“Um because its the same as Jeonghan’s”

“Oh yeah. I wouldn’t want to burden you though”

“It’s no burden at all. Please let me show you around so I can hold it over Jeonghan after,” Joshua answered showing the other a full smile.

After the short exchange, both parties said their goodbyes and headed their own ways. Throughout the whole ordeal, Jeonghan had remained completely silent something that was especially unusual for him. 

Seungcheol casually walked away from the apartment building before disappearing in a cloud of grey smoke. He reappeared in his humble apartment that was sufficient enough for him. It was sparsely decorated and had functional rather than aesthetic furniture. Even the dining table only had one chair clearly demonstrating the solitary life of most reapers. Most servants of the divinity didn’t mind this particular lifestyle given the nature of their jobs. They needed to be left alone on their personal time and Cheol was no exception.

In fact, Seungcheol was pleased to have time to himself until the meeting -

“What did I just witness!,” Jeonghan exclaimed.

It seemed that the reaper had forgotten about his rather permanent guest. They were literally bound to each other for some reason that was still a mystery to both of them.

“Can’t you just let me rest. I already did everything you asked of me,” the other whined believing that his vacation was truly ruined.

“The whole doe-eyed innocent soft look. I wish you would’ve shown me that when you came to take my soul,”

To that, the reaper just rolled his eyes.

“I thought I was a good liar but that was an academy award winning performance if you were able to fool my Shua.” 

“Okay Jeonghan I get it. Now shut up and let me rest!”

“Ahhh Cheollie,” Seungcheol couldn’t help but glare at the sudden nickname. “I’m bored and shouldn’t we figure out what we’re gonna say to Joshua.”

“Just take a nap. We’ll figure that out later. I’m not gonna let my entire vacation go to waste”

“You’re on vacation?,” was Jeonghan’s only response.

The reaper simply pinched his nose. He could only hope that the ribbon would disappear soon.

***

Having nothing better to do, the reaper and his companion arrived 15 minutes before their meeting time. The spirit was visibly anxious as if it was his first date with Joshua. Since they had arrived, he had not stopped rambling about Josh’s likes and dislikes.

“So what exactly am I suppose to be doing? Is this a date?,” Seungcheol asked clearly confused at his purpose in this whole situation.

“What!? No of course not! Jisoo is in a relationship with me remember,” Jeonghan responded hysterically.

“Yeah but you’re dead,” Cheol deadpanned. 

“Yeah and who's fault is that”

“You know very well I didn’t kill you. I just came to collect your soul”

The scene from outsiders perspective was incredibly strange not only because of the topic but also due to one-side conversation Seungcheol seem to be having. Passerbyers gave him strange glances that he was completely unaware of. Jeonghan, on the other hand, had definitely noticed the less than welcoming glances the reaper had received.

“Take your phone out and put it to your ear,” Jeonghan ordered more than asked.

“What? Why?”

“People keep looking at you strangely. Probably coz you are literally talking to nothing. If you have your phone, at least it looks like you’re talking on the phone”

“Why does it matter if they look at me weirdly. They’re just mortals. Either way I don't own a cellphone,” Cheol answered with a shrug

“Okay first of all you should put more effort into integrating to us “mortals”. Secondly, how do you not own a cellphone in 2017,” the ghost asked slightly shocked.

“Who would you want me to call,” Seungcheol responded. While it was true he had a few reaper friends, they had other ways of communicating besides simple phone calls. The only reason to get a phone would be to communicate with humans, which until now he had no need to.

“You know I —,” 

Jeonghan was interrupted by the sudden arrival of a brown haired man carrying a leather messenger bag across his chest. Just as promised, Joshua had arrived at the meeting point at 4pm sharp. He was wearing black jeans with a striped white and black shirt tucked in at the front. The overall look gave off a professional but casual look that was complimented by his soft smile. 

Seungcheol’s attire on the other hand was quite a somber affair. He wore a black fitted sweater matched with black ripped jeans. His casual wear was indeed as dark as his formal one. 

“Hi there uh -,” Jisoo paused clearly blanking on the other’s name.

“Seungcheol,” the reaper provided. 

“I guess the mornings events made me forget my manners.” The other man rubbed the back of his neck apologetically, ducking his head down in embarrassment. “I hope you accept my apology,” he added before bowing at almost 90 degrees.

Cheol was left speechless at the sudden politeness and turned to Jeonghan for some sort of explanation. The spirit just shrugged, _My Joshie has always been the polite one_. 

“Uh please no need to apologize. It was wrong of me to just show up at your door unannounced”

_Wow Cheollie do they give acting classes at reaper academy coz you’re killing it right now._

The reaper glared at the spirit, which only prompted Joshua to follow his line of sight to witness a whole lot of nothing. 

“So I figured I could show you where the main necessities are and a few places you can eat or drink. If you wanna know where something is, just ask,” Joshua said with a smile.

“Wow it’s like getting my own personal tour guide,” Seungcheol responded almost sarcastically. 

_Hey! Be nice to my boyfriend_.

“Yeah I guess I am!,” he said laughing completely ignoring the sarcastic undertone. 

And so there “tour” began with Joshua showing Seungcheol around the district. The latter was shown the metro station, the grocery store, the laundromat and other such things that he had no actual use for considering he didn’t work or live anywhere near this neighbourhood. Jisoo’s explanations were supplemented with a continuous commentary from Jeonghan that were more gossip than actual information.

_The owner of that café is cheating on her husband with one of her employees. I still have a vendetta against that piercer ever since he caused one of Shua’s piercing to get infected._ _Don’t even get me started on that pet shop…_

After an hour, both of them decided to stop at a café (thankfully one that Hannie had no negative comments about). The whole tour had been surprisingly pleasant for Seungcheol who hadn’t expected much from it to begin with.

Throughout their walk, Joshua had shared a lot about his personal life. He was an elementary school teacher at a nearby school. He moved to Seoul from Los Angeles in his early 20s purely to study and improve his Korean but destiny had other plans for him. While working at a café to pay off some of his student loans, Jisoo met Jeonghan who became a fairly regular customer at the shop. What Jeonghan would admit later on is that he only went to that café to flirt with the American boy.

It took two months for Joshua to finally accept one of Hannie’s countless date offers. From that point on, the two have been inseparable, which made accepting a job in Korea the only logical step for Shua. It would seem that life had blessed the both of them with a soulmate.

Now that Seungcheol and Jisoo were seated with drinks at the café, the reaper could finally take a good look at the ghost’s lover. The first thing he noticed was the uncommon eye shape that reminded him so much of a cat. The eyes along with the few cartilage piercings were truly the only sharp features that could be seen in the softness of his face. The overall picture was rather pleasing to the eyes.

At the sight of Cheol sipping his cold coffee cutely, Josh’s smile grew ten-fold. Something about the man was both absolutely mysterious and also incredibly childlike.

“All I’ve done all day is talk about myself. I know most of Jeonghan’s colleagues so why don’t you tell me a little bit about you?,” Jisoo breaking the silence that the drinks had caused.

“Um well my name is Seungcheol…”

“Yes as you’ve mentioned,” Jisoo said laughing. 

“What do you need to know?,” the reaper asked awkwardly as if being interviewed for a senior position.

At that Joshua burst out laughing.

“Wh-what? Did i say something funny?,” the doe-eyed man asked clearly confused.

“No I’m sorry but your tone of voice was just so formal. Let’s start simply then. What do you do at Hannie’s company”

_Tell him you’re an editor. I’m always complaining about Vernon so it wouldn’t be crazy of me to get a second one._

“I’m an editor…I edit things”

If Jeonghan was still alive, his face palm would have been audible to the entire restaurant. 

“Hmm okay. I’ve been thinking. You said you’re new to Korean yet you’ve spoken perfectly to me all day,” the teacher questioned without a hint of suspicion just pure curiosity.

“Oh I — I lose my words easily when I’m nervous and I felt especially nervous this morning.”

“So where are you originally from then?”

Stupidly, Seungcheol had not thought that that question would pop up. The panic settled in as he tried thinking of a reasonable country. His eyes searched the room until he stumbled upon a tree just outside the café window, which prompted him to scream —

“Canada!”

The unnecessary outburst caused Joshua to jump slightly in his seat and had Jeonghan’s eyes open wide.

_What the —_

“Oh so you can speak English?,” Jisoo asked in his native English language. “The only other person I speak to in English is Hansol, the other editor at Hannie’s company, you must have met him already.”

It was Seungcheol’s turn to stare back wide eyed. The only thing he understood from that sudden barrage of foreign words was the word “English”. He was at a lost for the sudden language switch realizing slightly too late that they did in fact speak English in Canada.

“I’m French—ch-Canadian!,”the reaper stuttered back in Korean as a response. The other man stared back waiting for a further explanation.

“I-I come from um,” _shit where do they speak French in Canada_ , he thought to himself.

_In any other situation, I would be thrilled to see this mess crash and burn but since you’re helping me I guess I’ll help. You’re thinking of Quebec and I sure hope you know a bit of French to cover your ass._

“Quebec!,” Seungcheol finally revealed glad for the first time that spirit was with him. 

“Oh so you don’t speak English,” Joshua asked with a hint of sadness in his voice.

“Nope! not a word. You got yourself a Korean French speaker right here,” the other boasted even though he had almost no knowledge to back that statement up. His capabilities in French were limited to death related words (obviously) and simple greetings.

The most complete sentence he could form was “Bonjour, vous êtes mort.”, which translated to “Hi, you are dead”. A rather somber sentence regardless of language.

“Ah! I see must be hard for you to practice here. I think you’re the first French speaker I’ve ever met.”

Thankfully, Joshua did not ask the other to demonstrate said skills and returned to sipping his iced americano. For someone so sweet, it was almost strange to see him drink something as bitter as iced coffee. 

After a long sip, Josh lifted his head and asked casually, “When is Jeonghan coming back by the way?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes that was a shameless shoutout to my country/province :)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and you can follow me on Twitter @carat_lyfe


	3. Un café, s'il vous plaît?

The cough that erupted from Seungcheol came from pure shock at the question being asked mixed with a very mistimed sip. While he was coughing his lungs out, he understood why Jeonghan was so keen on preparing for this “date”. In all likelihood, Jisoo was gonna ask about his boyfriend who did in fact live with him. It was not a subject that would be so easily ignored but somehow the reaper was dense enough to have forgotten about his uncommon situation.

In the midst of his coughing fit, Cheol excused himself to a worried looking Joshua and made his way to the bathroom. Only when he the lock was turn did his coughing subside. His usual calm and reserved demeanour flew out the window when he saw how sincerely and innocently Jisoo was asking for his boyfriend. The mortal had an electrifying energy around him that seemed to procure a reaction from the reaper. The feeling was unfamiliar but not completely unknown even though Seungcheol was unable to properly pinpoint its origins.

“I told you so,” Jeonghan exclaimed immediately upon entry to the bathroom.

“You know you’re suppose to keep the “I told you so” for yourself,” Seungcheol responded still reeling in from his fit.

“Yes but where’s the fun in that,” the spirit responded with a devilish grin on his face. If Seungcheol didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought he was paired up with a demon rather than a mere mortal. “I told you that we should’ve rehearsed but you just had to watch your drama.”

“I can’t be the only Reaper who isn't updated!!” he heard how ridiculous that sounded as that came out of his mouth. Sure enough Jeonghan gave him an incredulous look that matched the ridiculousness of the statement. 

“So how do I tell him you died?” the reaper asked clearly wanting to switch topics.

“Tell him I DIED!? That’s definitely not part of the plan.”

“What plan?! I’ve been going in blind since the beginning”

“Well who’s fault is that”

Seungcheol was about to burst. He wondered if it was possible to murder an already dead spirit but he sure as hell wanted to try. His next best option was amputating his ribboned foot in hopes of being separated from the spirit.

“Listen Jeonghan,” it was the first time the name was pronounced by the reaper since the alley. That fact alone sent a shiver across the ghost who felt compelled to listen further. “I'm trying my best here to cover up your death, which is really difficult for me given your constant presence and the fact that you know announcing death is a major part of my job description. But you have to realize that Jisoo will find out sooner or later. Your body is still in the alley and it’s only a matter of time before its found.”

Jeonghan stayed silent for several seconds taking in the words.

"I've already thought of all this. I’m very aware that my death can’t stay hidden forever. I just haven’t thought of the best way to break it to my Joshie. I just need more time.”

It was rare sight to see a moment of weakness in Jeonghan but he had run out of options. He was at the reapers mercy and could only hope that the other would cooperate for a bit longer.

With a sigh Cheol responded calmly, “I'll try to stall as much as possible but you have max three days before this all falls apart. The police may never find the culprit but in a big city like Seoul it should only be another day before your body is found and the police identify you.”

Jeonghan’s eyes grew wide and his face lit up as he realized what the other was willing to do for him. It was no small task to hide one’s death but he had found himself an accomplice.

“Thank you. I truly appreciate what you’re doing not only for me but also for Joshua”

“You mortals always assume the worst of us,” Seungcheol said voice low, “But you forget that the divinity gave us the duty to help souls like yours cross over.”

Although the words conveyed a sense of obligation, the tone in which he spoke gave out nothing but the purest intentions. He liked to show a cold and collected personality but he truly did sympathize with all the spirits he dealt with. It was simply a matter of personal experience that made him so closed off.

The quiet moment was disturbed by a brutal series of knocks followed by an incomprehensible shout. Seungcheol scrunched his face at the sudden interruption until Jeonghan simply nodded at the toilet in the corner of the room. Someone had clearly been waiting to use the facilities, which also meant that Jisoo had been waiting for a fair amount of time.

The reaper took a big breath and made his way out of the bathroom. He couldn’t help but duck down in embarrassment at the stranger who had been waiting far too long to use the restroom. Jeonghan smiled at the other’s reaction to the embarrassing situation. The image of a cold and emotionless reaper gave way to a kinder more emotionally capable one. If anything, the whole experience served to humanize said figure in the eyes of Jeonghan.

When Seungcheol got back to their table, he had an excuse lock and loaded to not only avoid the question but to leave their little meeting all together. He had tried the head on method and it had only led him closer to a point of no resolution. If facing your problems didn’t work, he figured avoiding them all together would be more effective. As a reaper, disappearing was a simple exercise. By this time tomorrow he could be, in simple words, as good as dead to the world, gone without a single trace to his name. 

As a matter of fact, reapers changed their names constantly having no real attachment to the ones they choose. Some did it to avoid human suspicions of being alive for centuries, others simply like the thrill of a new identity. Whatever the case, the organization strongly encouraged changing one’s name once every human life cycle. If Seungcheol remembered correctly, he was due to change his soon.

“Is everything okay?,” Joshua asked as soon as he caught sight of Seungcheol, considerable worry present in his voice.

“Uh yes why wouldn't I be?" the other responded obviously confused at Josh’s question.

“Well you spent an awfully long time in the washroom…” Joshua obviously didn’t want or have to fill in the blank. Seungcheol flushed a pretty pink having finally understood the implication of the question. He quickly had to defend himself before it got even more embarrassing.

“Huge line”

“There’s barely anyone here though”

“I wasn’t familiar with the technology”

Joshua stared back processing the words that had just been spoken. His eyes narrowed as he couldn't come to a single logical conclusion that would make the previous sentence any less ridiculous.

“You had difficulty with the technology…of a toilet”

“Yup!” the other answered way too eagerly.

“I guess Canada really is different,” Jisoo whispered mostly to himself.

Other than having completely embarrassed himself, Seungcheol had another problem. He had to leave before Jeonghan’s name would come up again but simultaneously couldn’t leave without raising Joshua’s suspicions of his stomach health. Although it shouldn’t have mattered what the mortal thought of him, Cheol felt the unnecessary need to impress him. He had probably failed at that but the least he could was keep some form of pride. 

They sat silently each having finished their drinks, which did not stop Seungcheol from staring intensely at the empty cup before him. Similarly, Joshua chose to look at anything but the man in front of him finding interest in a lamp a few tables over.

_Not gonna lie this sorta reminds me of my first date with Joshua_ , Jeonghan supplied unhelpfully. 

The awkward silence was disturbed by a client at the cash. Said client caught Jisoo’s attention as she seemed unable to be understood by the poor barista. Paying closer attention, the teacher could see that the young woman was not Korean and spoke in foreign language. To his untrained ear, it sounded like she was speaking French.

“Hey, Seungcheol,” Jisoo asked catching the reaper’s attention. “Can you tell me if that woman over there is speaking French”

The other gulped. He prayed that the other wasn’t right. That it was a language that he didn’t supposedly speak. 

Unfortunately for him, luck had not been on his side of the late. 

The reaper listened intently and had no choice but to confirm what Jisoo suspected. He could have lied but he felt that that would lead him in a far worse situation.

“Yeah that sounds like French,” he said confidently although he was internally dying.

“She must be having such a hard time communicating with people,” Joshua stated sympathetically as if he knew the girl personally. Cheol could already feel he’d agree to whatever the other asked of him even if he had no way to accomplish the task. “Do you think you can go over to the cash and help her since you speak French,” he asked, his eyes twinkling with hope.

_Wow he’s even pulling out the whole innocent eyes look. My Joshie sure knows how to manipulate the living daylights out of people. No wonder he’s a good teacher._

“Sure I’d be glad to help a foreigner,” Seungcheol said as he stood up and made his way to the cash, feeling Josh’s hopeful eyes on him.

He arrived at the counter and just stood there between the barista and the French speaker.

“ _Bon-jour_ ,” the reaper said, accent heavy on his tongue. “ _Français?”_ (French?)

It took a moment for the woman to register the question and another to realize that the man in front of her was offering his help.

_“Vous parlez Français?,”_ the woman asked. (You speak French?)

Cheol nodded having no clue what the hell she had just said.

“ _Pouvez-vous m’aider a trouver le fleuve Han? Je le cherche depuis ce matin, mais je ne peux pas parler Coréen”_

(Can you help me find the Han river? I’ve been searching since morning but I can’t speak Korean)

Judging by the excitement in her voice, the reaper definitely appeared to be the woman’s saving grace. To bad that the reaper would be anything but helpful.

With the eyes of Joshua and the barista trained on him, he had no room to fuck up. But then again, if the past few days were anything to go by, Seungcheol didn’t need much room to fuck up everything.

Blinking rapidly, the reaper stuttered an apology “ _Pa-rr-don??”_

_Yeah I’m just gonna retract whatever I said about an academy award,_ Jeonghan snickered.

The woman repeated herself only to receive a wide eyed blank stare in return. Seungcheol had undoubtedly fucked up. Fortunately, she picked up on the other's confusion and repeated only the key words in hopes of receiving some sort of response.

“ _Fleuve Han? H-A-N?_ ” (Han river? H-A-N?)

Thankfully, the reaper picked up on those words and assumed she needed directions to get to the river judging by the intonation in her voice. Having used up his repertoire of French words Seungcheol had no choice but to use hand gestures to give out directions.

With a creative use of his hands and a few uncanny sounds, he was able or at least assumed he was able to help the young woman with directions. If she had not understood, she did a damn good job of hiding her disappointment as she bowed politely and made her way out of the café. 

_Thank God I’m dead otherwise I would’ve died of embarrassment because of that._

“Shut up,” Cheol muttered under his breath.

“That seemed complicated,” Jisoo asked brows knitted in confusion.

“Yeah we spoke a different dialect” the other answered.

_Smooth_

“Oh I didn’t even know French had dialects,” Josh stated not entirely convinced. This whole situation seemed a bit fishy stayed polite.

“Yup so many dialects…I’m sorry but I have to go,” Seungcheol said abruptly, “Thank you so much for the tour.”  He bowed politely and made his way out of the café before Joshua even had the chance to say goodbye.

_That was a bit rude_

“Oh go to hell Jeonghan” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fyi, my chapter titles make no sense
> 
> You can follow me on Twitter @carat_lyfe


	4. And so it begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi y'all I'm back after a what a month? Anyways, uni has been hectic with all the readings and I didn't have much time to write. I wrote this during many sittings so I feel like there's way too many writing styles in here but I really wanted to post something. 
> 
> Thank you to all the readers and commentors! Much love!

Jisoo was still staring at the café door after Seungcheol's sudden departure. The whole situation was beyond weird. Jeonghan leaving without any warning, a strange new hiree he’s never heard of asking for his help and this same stranger acting abnormal to put it simply. What was stranger still is that Jeonghan had not contacted him from Hong Kong. His significant other would always find someway to communicate with him regardless of location. He wouldn’t have been surprised if Jeonghan sent him a message through carrier pigeon as unlikely as that could be.

So to have gone almost a full 24 hours without hearing a thing was indeed odd. Joshua decided to call him in attempt to make sense of this situation. The other line rang over and over again until it went to voicemail. He tried once again and obtained the same result choosing to leave a voicemail instead of simply hanging up.

“Hey Hannie! It’s Shua just wanted to know how your shoot is going. By the way, I met your new editor, Seungcheol, a bit strange but overall a good guy. Anyways, call me back when you can. Love you!”

With an uneasy heart, Josh exited the café and walked back home. The sun had set bringing the warmth with it. The young man shivered as he walked out wishing he had brought a jacket. The clouds overhead warned of showers even though the day was entirely clear of overcast. It seemed that the weather, similarly to Jisoo’s life, took a strange turn. 

Even if his apartment was near his previous location, Jisoo had the unfortunate chance of being caught in the first wave of precipitation. The rain picked up considerably covering the ground in heavy drops and drowning out all other sounds. Those who had gotten stuck in this unexpected storm quickly made their way to shelter. The teacher sped up his pace and was able to reach his apartment complex before he was completely soaked.

Before he entered the building, he spotted a black cat trying unsuccessfully to find shelter from the rain. Joshua felt a certain sense of pity for the stray and even considered bringing it in for the night. He dismissed the idea as soon as he thought of it. There was already an ominous atmosphere about the night that didn’t need to be further deepened with the introduction of a black cat. 

Thus, Jisoo entered the building and left the strange night behind him in hopes of a better tomorrow.

***

The whole ordeal with Joshua had rendered Seungcheol more emotionally exhausted than he had expected. Although he was used to having multiple human interactions in a day, they were usually of limited capacity, with him having full control of the situation. To not only loosen the reigns but also completely lose control was a rather new experience that left him somewhat uneasy.

He sat silently on a bench hidden from mortal eyes while the rain continued to pour on him. The rain was pleasing to him, bringing about a certain peace that was particularly uncommon in a big city like Seoul. He took slow shallow breaths to relax himself enjoying the distinct smell that always seemed to accompany rain.

His pensive state was interrupted by the crow of a single raven. The dark winged creature stood on the low hanging branch of a cherry blossom tree. It’s black coat glistened in the rain and its eyes concentrated on the single hidden figure sitting on the bench. It crowed once more, a single shrill shriek in the otherwise silent night. Seungcheol nodded in the creatures direction causing it to spread its wing and take off into the darkness.

The reaper got up from his position and call out into the night,

“Come on Jeonghan.”

Silence was his only answer.

Seungcheol called out once again, “Vacation is over. We have work to do.”

A figure appeared out of the darkness on the opposite side of the cherry blossom. The spirit continued to walk uncertainty towards the other man, his gaze fixed on the nearby tree.

“Seungcheol what was that thing?,” Jeonghan asked warily. He received no answer to his question as the reaper simply walked away letting the shadows envelop him. Without a single word, the message was clearly understood.

Tonight, silence would remain king.

***

When Joshua got up that morning to get ready for work, he almost expected something unusual to happen to break up his current routine. He was on edge, feeling as if he had misplaced something important and couldn’t remember where he had put it. He knew it was a stupid feeling but when had emotions ever been rational. 

He finished his morning routine in peace and made his way to work taking his usual route. He often walked to work preferring that method over any type of public transport even if it did take slightly longer. The only time he ever truly considered taking the bus was when the weather was at its worst bringing snow and temperatures far below zero. Despite the heavy rain of the previous night, the day’s sky was clear and the autumn weather was  warm enough to only necessitate a light jacket.

The path Joshua took was always a quiet one avoiding the heavy congestion and noise of the main boulevards in favour of the more quiet and slow side streets. His walks served as a sort of therapeutic break from life giving him time to simply breathe. The experience was the most pleasant in spring when cherry blossom adorned the streets with their pink hue and sweet aroma. Unfortunately, for him, fall’s only gift to him was the cold breeze that whipped him awake. 

When he arrived at the school, he shrugged off his jacket at the entrance of his classroom and started preparing for the day. Whatever his worries were, Joshua made sure to put them aside to give the children his full attention. Thirty minutes after his arrival, the children started entering the classroom and he greeted them with a full smile ready to enlighten their day.

Later, as the bell rang to indicate the lunch hour, the children respectfully bowed to Mr.Hong before leaving the classroom in a hurry. The cafeteria was always bustling with noise and activity, with a few teachers keeping a careful watch to ensure a somewhat civil state. Luckily for him, Joshua hadn’t been assigned lunch duty today.

Although Jisoo tried to resist the temptation, he ultimately resigned and took out his phones in hopes of seeing some news from Hannie. As expected (even though the lost of contact with your partner is nothing to be expected), no messages, calls or voicemails were present on his phone. He couldn’t help himself and typed up a quick message to his boyfriend.

“Hey Hannie, hows your day going? <3” 

Its while scrolling through his phone that Joshua got the idea to call Vernon, the young editor got along well with his bosses partner and both of them often spoke amiably in English. 

A quick swipe and the other line was already ringing.

“Vernon here. What’s up?”

Joshua let out a sigh and reminded himself to chastise the younger later for his utter lack of professionalism when answering calls. The kid had potential but seemed to blasé to do something with it.

“Hey Vernon. I was calling to see if you’ve heard anything about when Jeonghan might be back,” Joshua asked going straight to the point.

“Comeback??”

Jisoo chalked up the Hansol’s confusion to his personality as he often took longer to process things than others.

“Back from Hong Kong. On that unexpected shoot,” the teacher further elaborated.

“This is the first I here of this but wait lemme ask”

Rustling could be heard over the line as Vernon asked one of the other people working at the studio.

“So Hosh hasn’t heard anything about a shoot and actually wondered if you might know where he is”

“What do you mean? He hasn’t contacted you guys?”

“No he hasn’t been here for a couple days. We figured he was with you or something”

“Ohh okay. Well thanks Vernon. Have a nice day!”

“You too hyung. Call us when you find him. Chan keeps threatening to kill someone if Jeonghan doesn’t deliver on the deadline”

“Okay will do. Bye!”

As soon as Jisoo hung up, he felt an uneasy feeling washing over him, a mix of worry and some other indescribable feeling. Could his boyfriend have gone missing? Just as he was ready to plunge down the rabbit hole, the bell rang again indicating the end of the lunch break. His worries would have to be pushed aside once again. This time it was much harder than when he had done it in the morning.

Apparently, he didn’t do a very good job of hiding his worries as he spaced out more than once during his lesson. His facial expression must have worried the students as one of them spoke out,

“Mr. Hong are you alright?”

The question surprised Joshua as he did not expect his students to notice anything wrong.

“Yes of course! Don’t worry about me and let’s continue this lesson,” he responded brightly with a convincing smile. The children were perceptive but were still too young to try arguing with an adult, especially their teacher.

Thankfully, the afternoon passed quicker than expected and soon enough he was grabbing his coat and bolting for the door before any of his colleagues could stop him for a chat. On a regular day, he'd be glad to stay and talk but this was definitely far from regular. 

His steps were rapid as he made his way back to his home. Although the solution to his problem would probably not be found at home, Jisoo felt the undeniable need to make it back as quickly as possible. His ears fell silent to the sounds of the crowded street and his eyes could only focus on the road ahead of him.

When he got to his apartment complex, he finally stopped to breather realizing only now that his heart was pounding and sweat had started to form on his brow. He had to calm himself down considering that he technically had nothing to worry about.

While he waited for the elevator, he checked his phone once more only to find a few Snapchat notifications and nothing from Jeonghan. The elevator brought him to the fourth floor where he discovered a sight that filled him with dread. 

In front of his apartment, stood two policemen knocking gently on his door. He approached the men hesitatingly until one of them noticed him.

“Hong Jisoo?,” the older of the two asked.

Joshua could only nod as his brain started going through the worst case scenario. His mind had been plagued with worry since the phone call and now he had a fair enough reason to let his darkest nightmares come to surface.

“May we have a word?,” the other said in a voice filled with softness.

The young man simply nodding again letting his body go through the automatic motions of opening the door. 

The news would be far from pleasant.

***

Jeonghan stood quietly in the hallway of the hospital watching Seungcheol through the window of the room. The doctors had long left the room having done all they could to prolong the woman’s life. It wasn’t an especially tragic death considering the circumstances. The woman was well in her 90s having lived a full life and dying of natural causes. She wasn’t alone in this world having had three children and even more grand-children but the world had been an awfully lonely place after her husband’s passing.

Her children were all in the room but it made no difference to Seungcheol who had assured Jeonghan that for now he was completely invisible to the mortal world. Reapers had the distinct ability to easily navigate between the human and spirit world. 

As the monitor flat lined, the woman’s soul slowly rose from her body and almost by instinct went towards Seungcheol. The family’s cries drown out any conversation that Jeonghan could’ve heard between the soul and the reaper. The scene made Jeonghan wonder how different their situations were.

On one hand, this woman died of old-age surrounded by the one’s she loved. On the other hand, Jeonghan had died alone in an alley surrounded only by the cold cement. In fact, the love of his life still had no idea that he was dead. 

Cheol existed the room with the woman in tow. They both disappeared leaving Hannie alone. He could’ve easily joined them but he felt a discomfort whenever he was back in the room that had bonded him and Seungcheol together. This death had been the third of the day and he felt it take a toll on him. Reapers were far better equipped to deal with the passing of spirits than his over empathetic self.

After observing the grieving family for a few minutes, Jeonghan decided that enough time had passed for him to be able to join Seungcheol without the heavy presence of another spirit. He disappeared only to reappear next to the reaper, the binds ensuring that one could never go far without the other.

“How was it?,” Jeonghan asked never sure how to engage conversation after what most mortals consider a hard time.

“Well…she was happy to finally be able to see her husband again. We see death constantly as reapers but through it all, true love really does stand out”

There was a pause before Seungcheol spoke up again.

“Have you figured out how you wanna deal with Jisoo?”

“Yeah, I think so. We just need to stop at my office before.”

They both existed the room through one of the doors only to step out onto the same street as Jeonghan’s workplace. Seungcheol wished he could've landed directly inside the building but he had never stepped foot inside and thus he had no mental image to form when deciding on the location to exist from. The issue was trivial but it still bothered him as they made their way to the nearby building. They reached the door when a loud shout broke through the crowded noise of the city and froze the reaper in place.

“CHOI SEUNGCHEOL!!!”

His blood chilled at the sheer murderous intent of that voice. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can follow me on Twitter @carat_lyfe
> 
> Hopefully, will be posting smtg before Christmas ;D
> 
> Can any of you guess why all these black animals?


	5. The 5 stages of grief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised to post before Christmas so technically I kept my promise :D
> 
> No but seriously I'm terrible for not updating sooner but school, midterms and all the other joys of life.
> 
> Its my week off now so I rushed to start and finish this chapter filled with that slow burn yall love.

The policemen at his door delivered the harsh news of Jeonghan’s murder to Jisoo after entering his home. The news hit Joshua like a brick but he felt no grief, only emptiness. The words spilling out of the men’s mouth meant nothing and floated away into the seemingly vast expanse of the living room. Jisoo’s mind was clouded in a mist separating him from the harsh reality of the outside world. He only returned to the present when he heard his name being called.

“Mr. Hong…Mr. Hong we’re sorry to ask this of you but would you be willing to come down to the morgue to confirm the identity of the body. You seem to be the only relative of his”

Silence filled the room as the policemen waited for the other’s response.

“Let me grab my coat”. His answer was cold and devoid of all emotion. Joshua decided to be strong.

The body hadn’t been moved since the stabbing and was only stumbled on by chance by a young couple who’s night was probably ruined after the sight. As expected, Jeonghan’s skin was drained of all life leaving only behind a grey shell. His eyes were covered by a white haze unfit for the charismatic and ambitious man. 

The morgue greeted Joshua with the same coldness that one would expect from such a place. He was led through a hallway of barren walls reflecting the dreary white cast of the neons above. He shivered as he entered a similarly decorated room with three equally distanced metal slates. Only one of these slates was in use, a white shroud covering what Joshua knew to be Jeonghan’s body. White had always been a good colour on Jeonghan contrasting nicely with his skin but now it only served to accentuate the dull colour of his body.

“Are you ready?,” one of the men asked ready to pull the sheet off the body’s face.

A quick nod and the sheet was removed.

Joshua was faced by the same grey shell that the young couple had encountered. The physical traits were the same but the overall image was not something Jisoo could recognize. It was as if the Jeonghan he knew was replaced by some cheap lookalike. But in the end, it was undeniably him.

The sight of the body made his mind flash to the new “employee” he shared coffee with. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that this man appeared out of thin air so soon after Jeonghan’s disappearance. The emotionless void he had created after the news was now being replace by a sudden fury. He had found a purpose: to find and question the murderer, the man named Seungcheol.

“Sir, do you confirm the identity of the body?,” the younger of the two policemen asked uncertainly, feeling the shift in the teacher’s demeanour. 

“Yes, this is Yoon Jeonghan,” he responded in a distant voice. “I’m sorry but I have to go”

“Of course, we understand. We will contact you for the formalities and don’t worry Mr. Hong. We will find the person who did this”

_Not if I find him first_ , Jisoo thought to himself.

They bowed to each other and the young man made his way out of the depressing building. He was no detective but he figured that Jeonghan’s workplace where this employee supposedly worked was a better start than any.

***

“CHOI SEUNGCHEOL!!!”

Jisoo was seeing red, his blood boiling as he spotted the strange man that had appeared in the wake of his husband’s death. Correction, his husband’s MURDER. Rationally speaking, accusing Seungcheol of Jeonghan’s murder was a bit far fetch considering the complete lack of evidence but Jisoo needed something to vent his frustration. He subconsciously was preventing himself from grieving until the killer was found. It was an unsteady safeguard at best that was bound to come crashing down around him.

Seungcheol immediately recognized the voice and knew that there was only one reason Jisoo would be after him. Even though he had the upper hand being a reaper and all, Seungcheol was still utterly terrified of the pure hatred behind that scream.

“What should I do?!,” he asked Jeonghan who looked like a deer caught in headlights. 

“Run”

And so he did. Against any possible rational judgement he could’ve made, the reaper followed the spirit’s advice and bolted. It didn’t matter where he was going, it just had to be in the opposite direction of Joshua. 

As Jisoo made his way across the square, he spotted the other man rushing away from him. If that wasn’t enough proof of his guiltiness, he didn’t know what was. He had no choice but to pick up the pace and started running in the same direction.

Seungcheol looked over his shoulder and noticed Jisoo closing the gap between them.

“Jeonghan you got me into this mess. Now get me the fuck out”

“Oh we are so dead,” the spirit exclaimed completely ignoring the others request.

“You’re already dead and I can’t die. I just don’t wanna deal with your terrifying husband right now,”

“Sure that’s the reason you bolted because you’re avoiding getting scolded. Please, you’re just as afraid of dying right now as I am of re-dying somehow”

Seungcheol gulped unable to respond to the statement in part due to the slight truthfulness behind it. So without any other solution, he continued running, which wouldn’t have been an issue if he was actually used to the activity. As a reaper, he usually transported himself wherever he needed to go and barely did any physical activity. The only reason he wasn’t teleporting himself at the current moment was because that would require stopping or at least slowing down. Two things that were not options right now. His current strategy was to run and hide. 

A strategy that would work just fine if Jisoo wasn’t such a fast runner.

“What the hell is up with your husband. How can he even catch up to me. I had a huge head start,” Seungcheol questioned Jeonghan between pants. His expression signalled nothing but more bad news.

“Probably should’ve mentioned that Joshua used to run track and field back in college,” Jeonghan answered sheepishly, breath even as he ran next to Seungcheol. Lucky ghosts who couldn’t get tired since they were dead after all.

“Of course he fucking did”

On the verge of passing out due to exhaustion, the reaper made a quick turn into an alley hiding behind a dumpster as he caught his breath. A black cat sat on a nearby trash can starring intently at the scene in front of him. When Cheol spotted the animal, he couldn’t help the groan that escaped his lips.

“You must be playing some sick game,” he muttered. 

He wasn’t even able to catch his breath before Joshua made his appearance at the entrance of the alley. The reaper was undoubtedly cornered.

“Thought you could escape from justice. Well you’re wrong you motherfucker,” Jisoo exclaimed like the titular superhero of a comic book.

_Oh god what is he saying. He’s being cheesy and swearing. This probably means the world is coming to an end._

Considering Jeonghan was murdered in an alley not too far from his office, Jisoo was offaly brave approaching the “suspected” murdered without a single way to defend himself. He got within a mere meter of a panting Seungcheol before starting his interrogation. 

“Who are you?”

Silence

“Why’d you kill Jeonghan?”

Silence

“Was it for money?”

More silence

“Goddammit! Answer me!,” Jisoo finally exploded grabbing Seungcheol by the collar.

_Jisoo…_

Seungcheol could not or rather would not run anymore. He had to confront the problem he was partially responsible for creating.

“I didn’t kill him,” the reaper stated. 

“What kind of sick bastard kills someone…and,” Joshua choked, tears starting to fill his eyes.“- and has coffee with their husband”

The tears that he had been holding back were finally spilling out leaving streak marks across his cheeks. The wall he had carefully crafted at the sight of Jeonghan’s body came crumbling down. Its foundation an unsteady mix of denial and anger. His vengeance against Seungcheol was just another way to postpone the inevitable. 

_Shua I’m so sorry to have left you all alone._

Even if the other couldn’t hear him, Jeonghan couldn’t bring himself to silently watch the love of his life suffer. He needed to comfort him somehow and his only option was standing right in front of him.

_Seungcheol please just do…something. I don’t care what it is just make his pain stop. Make him forget me if you have to._

The reaper regarded the spirit with sympathetic eyes. He knew he meant well but they had officially crossed into his domain of expertise. Few people were better equipped to deal with death and grief than the humble servants of the divinity. He looked over at the black cat who was now joined by a similarly coloured raven. Both animals keeping a curious eye on the scenes unravelling in front of them. Seungcheol knew his next action would probably get him into serious trouble reminiscent of his younger days.

He circled his arms around Joshua squeezing him into a hug. The young man jumped slightly at the action before melting away into the others arms. He was too tired to fight anymore. Even if this stranger actually was the killer, he rather die now than live the rest of his life without Jeonghan. The reaper closed his eyes and the three disappeared from the alley. 

The two animals stood there for few more seconds. The raven left first flying out of the alley and disappearing out of sight of the other. The black cat yawned before jumping off the trash can onto the escape stairwell making a stealthy exit to the roof of the building.

***

The three of them reappeared in the same brightly lit room where this all began.

“Whe-Where are we?,”Joshua asked distancing himself from the other man and surveying his surroundings.

“Joshua please have a seat. We have a lot to discuss,” Seungcheol announced in a steady voice. 

...

“So you’re a grim reaper who had to collect Hannie’s soul but ended up being bound to him and somehow he convinced you to watch over me?,” Jisoo asked with a hint of skepticism. 

“Yeah that’s the gist of it”

“Is he here with us,” he asked looking around the room

“Yes”

“Hm”

“I know this a lot to take in and you probably don’t believe all of it but-“

“No, I believe you,” Joshua cut in.

“Pardon?”

“I believe all of what you’re saying and even if I didn’t it still doesn’t change the fact that Jeonghan is dead. It pains me to say it but I’ve lost my soulmate.”

_No, Shua I’m right here. You haven’t lost me yet._

Jisoo smirked. “He’s probably saying something along the lines of him always being there for me”

“Yeah that’s about right,” the reaper responded slightly surprised at how well the other was taking everything.

“Where is he exactly.” Seungcheol pointed next to him, which caused Joshua to angle his head in that direction. “Hannie I know you want to stay here and protect me but I can’t bear the guilt of you wandering around denying your right to the afterlife,” he paused taking a deep breath before continuing. “So please promise me that you’ll cross over as soon as you two are unbound. okay?”

The teacher didn’t wait for an answer as he stood up.

“Do you mind bringing me back to my apartment? I’d like to have some time alone.”

“Of course. I understand”

The reaper gently grabbed the other’s arm and transported both of them to the front door of his apartment.

“Thank you Seungcheol and have a good night,” Joshua said before entering the apartment and closing the door behind him.

“…You too”

Seungcheol had become unfazed by this specific brand of sadness so how come his heart ached at the sight of Jisoo’s mournful eyes. 

***

It had been about 2 weeks since Jeonghan’s death and Jisoo was still dealing with the consequences of the sudden departure. The grief hit him like an ocean wave the mourning after his encounter with Seungcheol. All the memories of their time together came rushing back filling him with sorrow at the thought of those beings the only ones they’ll ever create together. 

He had stopped going to work during this time warning the school that he’d be on leave for an undetermined amount of time. Seokmin, one of his colleagues, made sure to call him everyday upon hearing the news. The bright and cheerful teacher tried his best to alleviate some of the pain by making every minute on the phone as happy and positive as he could. He also occasionally came around to deliver some home cooked food, which was mostly terrible but Joshua always smiled at the other attempts to cheer him up. Their phone calls and shared meals together where one of the few moments were Josh would forget about Jeonghan and let himself laugh again. The grief was still there however, its only cure being time.

On the 17th night, Jisoo decided to go for a walk. His apartment suddenly reminding him too much of Jeonghan. He walked aimlessly until he reached the Han’s river settling himself on a bench near the water. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the water letting his mind wander. The fresh air, calm sound and the overall darkness wrapped Joshua in a serene cocoon free from emotions. He was so entranced that he didn’t notice another man sitting on the bench.

“Nice night,” the stranger commented.

Joshua jumped at the sound of another person, completely unaware of the other’s presence.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you”

“No, it’s fine. I was just distracted”

“Name’s Wonwoo,” the other man said answering a question that was never asked. He put out his hand.

“Joshua,” the young man responded reaching to shake hands with this strange man.

_What is it about me that attracts strangers. He better not be flirting with me._ Joshua thought to himself. 

“I know this may seem strange but you looked like you needed someone to talk to”

“Oh really didn’t know I was being that obvious,” Jisoo said half-sarcastically. 

Wonwoo gave an almost smile clearly not deterred by the other’s bitter attitude.

The new widow took a deep breath, “I’ve just been going through a tough time.”

“Hm yeah the death of one’s lover tends to bum people out”

The other’s head snapped, eyes widening as he stared in shock at what the other just said. 

“What the. How did you…”

A nose crinkling smile appeared on Wonwoo's face

“I’m a fortuneteller or clairvoyant for lack of a better terms”

The teacher regarded him skeptically.

“It’s good that your skeptical. Means people are less likely to abuse of you,” he paused. “Nonetheless, would you like me to read your fortune.”

“Is this some sort of scam?”

“No not at all. I won’t charge you or anything, and if you don’t like what I say you can just ignore it. So what do you have to lose?”

Jisoo thought about it and it was true. It’s not like he had much to lose at this point. 

“What do I have to do?”

“Just give me your hands”

And so he did expecting some half-assed palm reading but instead Wonwoo took his hands and closed his eyes. They sat in silence for a minute or so although it felt much longer to Jisoo. When Wonwoo opened his eyes, they seemed vastly different than a few moments ago. They felt much sharper and colder almost as if they were designed to bore through a person’s soul. 

“The one you have lost was the love you chose but not the one fate has chosen for you. He is a link to your past that remains fragmented within you. Dark wings fly overhead and seeing eyes lurk in the shadows. Those who stay still never make it out. But those who travel further within find the answer to both their past and their present. A figure stays hidden but always near, trust your husband but more importantly trust your gut.”

With that Wonwoo stood up and started walking away.

“Sorry if it’s unclear but the pieces will all fall into place”

The night fell silent again. The other late night walkers seemed to have disappeared draping the whole area in silence save the running water and light wind rustling through the nearby trees.

_What did all of that mean. It all sounds like nonsense but somehow feels like the truth._

It was Joshua’s turn to get up and make his way back

_“A figure stays hidden but always near.” Could it be?_

The teacher stayed in silent contemplation all the way back to his apartment. This past month had been nothing but one strange occurrence after the other but how come he had accepted it all. Why did Wonwoo strike so close to home even with all the cryptic context. Before he knew it, he had made it back to his complex taking the elevator up to his floor. He reached for his keys half way to turning the lock when he paused.

“What to come inside?” he asked facing the end of the corridor.

“Seungcheol I know you’ve been watching me. I’m not mad. Just come in for once instead of hiding,” he sounded tired and not only due to the late hour.

Sure enough the reaper appeared around the corner and made his way to Joshua who finally turned the key, the two entering the apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My friend made me realize that this chapter was nothing but grieving. I just couldn't bring myself to cut down on this part since I felt it was really important part. Anyways, how we feeling about cryptic Wonwoo? and yes he will be making a comeback in later chapters.
> 
> Also, I'm planning a meanie fic after I finish this one.
> 
> Enjoy! and feel free to follow or message me on Twitter @carat_lyfe


	6. Past, present, future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rushed this coz I know its been too long since I posted. I made it right in time for Christmas with only 2 hours to spare.
> 
> Happy holidays everyone!

Seungcheol stood awkwardly at the entrance as Joshua took off his shoes and made his way inside the apartment. When Joshua turned to make sure the other was following him, he couldn’t help but sigh at the sight of the unmoving reaper.

“When I invited you in, I didn’t want you to stay pinned to my door”

The slight warning was all it took for Seungcheol to remove his shoes and follow Joshua into the kitchen. 

“Would you like some tea?,” the teacher offered.

“I’d love some gossip,” the reaper answered, a grin starting to form.

Joshua’s frowned, confusion spreading across his face. 

_I ask him about tea and he talks about gossip. What kind of — Ohhhhh_

As the comprehension dawned on him, Joshua’s actually smiled.

“I didn’t know grim reapers were up-to-date on meme culture”

“Well technically we aren’t but Jeonghan kept using expressions I didn’t understand so I had to learn them at some point,” he responded, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

The smile that had formed quickly disappeared at the mention of Jeonghan’s name. Something that was not missed by Seungcheol.

“Oh shit! I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to — I shouldn’t have —,”

“Seungcheol stop,” Joshua interrupted. “It’s not your fault he’s gone. I can’t be mad at you for basically doing your job.” 

Seungcheol found no appropriate response other than a slight nod. He had been a reaper for centuries and he could only count a handful of people that felt no resentment towards his profession. Although Joshua could have easily been lying about the whole thing, the reaper was inclined to believe that the other’s statement was nothing but the truth. 

“Tell me something,” the teacher added “Is Jeonghan still here?”

“He’s not presently with us but yes he’s still roaming amongst the living.”

“That man has always had an issue with letting go,” Joshua said fondly. “I think the few fights we had were solely based on his possessi—,” His whole face crunched up as a surprise yawn cut his sentence short. Seungcheol couldn’t help but look away from the sheer cuteness of the action.

“You must be tired. I’ll leave now,” the reaper said still looking away from the other man. His bluntness was just another reminder of his painful lack of social skills in all situations unrelated to death. 

“It’s late. You can just sleep here”

“Here…as in this apartment,” the reaper questioned. The young man looked at him strangely.

“Yes, in this apartment. On the couch if you want to be more specific,” he added pointing to the furniture in the adjoining living room. “Does the underworld have a different definition of ‘here’”

The reaper was still taken aback by the proposal but felt the need to accept it even though it was probably going against some ethical code of the reapers association. A code he had never read but had been constantly chastised about. 

Joshua left the kitchen and came back shortly with pillows and a blanket to throw over the couch. “I’ll probably be up early. I’m gonna go back to work and ask to start again. I think I’ve been gone for long enough.” He was about to make his way to the bedroom when Seungcheol stopped him.

“Aren’t you scared or even worried?,” he asked vaguely.

“Pardon?”

“Aren’t you scared of me, a reaper who literally takes souls away? Aren’t you worried about letting an almost complete stranger sleep in your home?”

Truth be told Jisoo had no rational reason to trust Seungcheol. Any sane person would have never let a grim reaper come near them let alone sleep a mere room away from them. But deep down in his gut, the young man felt trusting of the other man. There was something unexplainable that made him want to keep the reaper around. Was it because of a sense of security or rather curiosity? Even Jisoo was unsure but he had to come up with something to tell the other so he simply said what felt right.

“I was always the scared one in the relationship while Hannie was the brave one. We balanced each other out. Now that he’s gone I have to balance myself out, which might mean making a few worrisome decisions here and there. Plus, you had so many opportunities to harm me. Seems dumb that you would’ve waited this long to do it if you had any dangerous intentions.”

Although that didn’t seem like the whole truth, Seungcheol accepted it not wanting to further push the topic. He nodded and took hold of the pillow pressing it closely against his chest.

“Guess I have no choice but to accept then. I’ll leave as soon as you wake up.”

Joshua smirked and finally made his way to the bedroom even though the tiredness had left him. He would fall asleep one way or another. Seungcheol plopped down on the couch that was slightly too small for him still clutching the pillow against his chest. Sleep took over his body slowly having not gotten a good nights sleep in weeks. Reapers needed less sleeps than humans but would undeniably feel the effects of going without it after a few days. Seungcheol was no different.

***

Seungcheol woke up the next morning fairly early as was the usual for him. He got up and stretched looking around the living room. It was neatly organized with a low table, a soft wool carpet and a large television on the opposite side of the couch. Jeonghan, however, was still nowhere to be found. The silk that bound them was still attached at his ankle, which meant that the spirit hadn’t crossed to the other side yet. He had disappeared at some point the day before and hadn’t made it back to the reaper. Seungcheol always wondered what the other did while he was sleeping but never bothered to ask. He probably entertained himself somehow considering it was the only thing he didn’t complain about.

He didn’t exactly know when the human would wake up but he guessed that it was still too early for most people to be awake. He had promised to leave only after the other had woken up and felt wrong leaving any time before that. Seungcheol, however, was never the most patient of reapers and was already fidgeting mere minutes after getting up. He considered watching television but decided otherwise not wanting to wake up the other by chance. He flipped through the magazines on the coffee table but quickly got bored of them. He even tried reading one of the mangas on display in the book shelf but felt defeated when he realized they were written in English. 

His eyes moved across the room towards the kitchen, which spawned what any reasonable person would call a terrible idea. _I know I’ll cook him breakfast_. 

He moved to the kitchen and started scavenging the fridge. He wasn’t the best cook but he could get by with simple recipes like eggs. He took the egg carton out, found the oil and started heating up the pan. While that was heating up, he started the coffee machine.

He was cooking his third egg when Joshua came out of the room stretching and yawning in a white t-shirt to big for him and charcoal sweatpants. _Guess he’s also an early bird_ , Seungcheol to himself.

When Joshua spotted the other man in the kitchen, he immediately froze in the hallway. He blinked rapidly before asking, “What are you doing?”

“Um I’m cooking you breakfast,” Seungcheol responded.

The whole scene looked rather domestic to Joshua’s eyes. He couldn’t help the slight blush that began creeping up his neck. It wasn’t his fault he was an easy blusher. The action was very endearing and seemed rather out of character from what Jisoo knew about the awkward reaper. It would pull at anyones heart strings he told himself.

“May I ask why?,” he questioned while walking closer.

“Because its kind and I wanted to thank you for having me over. Is this not something people normally do?” Seungcheol asked genuinely confused at the others reaction.

“Well yes but people usually only cook breakfast for each other when they…you know”

It was now Seungcheol’s turn to stop and stare blankly at the other.

“No I don’t particularly know”

“When they um….hook-up,” Joshua finally answered voice dropping towards the end of the sentence.

“Oh—OH NO THATS NOT,” the reaper immediately dropped the egg on the floor. “Shit no! I didn’t—this wasn’t!” He quickly bent down to clean up the splatter only to bash his head on the edge of the counter.

As painful as that looked, Jisoo’s automatic reaction was to laugh at the reapers desperate attempts to resolve the awkward confusion. His laughter died down when he noticed Seungcheol still crouched down head between his hands cowering from embarrassment and pain. He reminded the teacher of some the kids in his class. He took out an ice pack from the freezer and crouched down next to the other man. He removed Seungcheol’s hands from his face and placed the ice pack gently on his forehead. The cold made the reaper slightly flinch.

Their were a mere foot apart when Seungcheol’s eyes met Jisoo’s who was still holding onto the ice pack. The rather domestic scene had become fairly more intimate in just that moment so much so that Jisoo decided to break the eye contact and stand up. 

“Let’s eat before it gets cold then I’ll head on out to the school”

Seungcheol stood up as well and nodded to the proposal.

They quickly ate the breakfast the reaper had prepared and were on their way out in less than 30 minutes. As they left the apartment complex, Seungcheol insisted that Jisoo be escorted to the nearby school, which only led to an argument between the two.

“I will NOT be escorted to my job like some frail old person” Jisoo complained.

“Oh yes you will. You don’t know what kind of danger there is out there,” the reaper fired back.

“Oh you’re right. I’m definitely gonna get mugged or something at 9am on Wednesday while passing a park. The risks have never been greater,” the other responded sharply.

The arguing went on for a few minutes before they were interrupted by a tall man in a dark suit.

“Excuse me,” he interrupted shyly still uncertain if he wanted to cut into the conversation or not.

The man had tanned skin that seem to glow in the morning sun. He easily towered over most people with his heigh and his sharp eyes were slightly covered by his black hair. He was undoubtedly an attractive man.

“What do you want Mingyu?,” Seungcheol asked once he saw the man who had interrupted them.

Mingyu’s eyes flickered between the human and the reaper. “Jihoon wants to see you”

“Tell him I’ll go see him later,” he answered, obviously annoyed.

“No I don’t think you get it. Jihoon didn’t request you. He ordered you to go see him,” Mingyu said and judging by his wavering voice he was terrified of whoever this Jihoon character was. 

Seungcheol’s eyes widened at the statement. “Oh god okay. I’ll be right there.” He turned to Jisoo “You” he pointed “be safe and don’t get mugged” and at that the reaper briskly walked away with the tall man in tow. 

_This Jihoon must be able to murder them or something for both of them to be this terrified. Can reapers even die? Was that handsome guy even a reaper?_ Joshua was lost in thought until the sound of a kid screaming brought him back to his senses. _Right you’re going to get your job. Why are you even worried about Seungcheol anyways?_ Oddly enough he couldn’t seem to find an answer to that question.

***

“Come in,” a voice responded to Seungcheol’s knocking. Both reapers entered the office only for Mingyu to be quickly dismissed.

There with his arms crossed sat the infamous Lee Jihoon. Standing at a whopping 164 cm with a round face and fluffy blonde hair, the man was the terror of the Reaper organization and coincidentally Seungcheol’s boss. His cute looks were remarkably deceiving considering the numerous rumours circulating about his past. He was supposedly able to collect a thousand souls at once having witnessed the most gruesome battles. According to some, he may have even participated in the carnage ensuring that not a single human left the battle field alive. Others claimed that he was a fallen angel who had displeased the divinity but was too powerful to simply eliminate. Of course this was all hear say, but that didn’t stop Jihoon from being nothing short of terrifying when he was angry and Seungcheol had a feeling that his boss was rather displeased with him today.

“Hey! Ji-“

“You’re late on your paperwork,” Jihoon interrupted.

“Well funny that -“

“And I’ve gotten word that you have been hanging around a human”

Cheol didn’t know if reapers could die but he was about to find out considering Jihoon was mad at him for not one but two reasons, which was two too many. 

“Those two facts are unrelated to each other”

“Seungcheol shut up and listen. You know the rules. You collect human souls and bring them to the afterlife. Reapers and humans aren’t meant to coexist together.”

“Jihoon calm down. I’m not ‘coexisting’ with him. I just slept over at his house once thats all.” Leave it to Seungcheol to dig a deeper grave than he was already in.

“You slept at his house! Does he know what you are! Do you even understand what you’re doing right now. You’ll end up like that walking tree—” Jihoon’s eyes widened as he realized what he has just let slip.

“The walking tree? Mingyu?” the reaper’s boss took this precise moment to appreciate the ceiling of his office. Although Jihoon was scary to most people, the two had grown to become rather close friends over the decades and Seungcheol knew that he would find out whatever the other was holding back. “Jihoon what exactly happened to Mingyu? He seems pretty fine to me”

The blonde haired man spent the next few seconds staring at his subordinate clearly trying to intimidate the other. He knew that plan would fail but he had to at least try something before giving in. He had a reputation to uphold after all.

“Fine. I’ll tell you but you didn’t hear it from me okay. If the higher ups ever found out I told you this, well nothing would actually happen coz they’re terrified of me but still I’m not supposed to be telling you this.” Seungcheol smiled and reclined in his chair excitedly waiting to hear whatever secret his friend had to keep hidden. 

“Around 500 years ago, there was a young man who became renowned in the kingdom as a diviner blessed by the Gods. The man was barely 21 years old but his fortunes had a reputation for always being true so much so that the King appointed him as an advisor and even built a shrine on the palace grounds to serve as his permanent residence. 

It is during this time that Mingyu crossed paths with him while he was on a soul run. He was so struck by the human’s ability not only to see the future but also see him that he went back day after day to visit him. The two idiots fell in love. A human and a reaper, the representation of life and death, two sides of the same coin that were never suppose to meet. The Divinity made an example out of them. 

One day the man was no longer able to tell anyone’s fortunes. He had lost the favour of the Gods and the King didn’t hesitate to execute the man to prevent any misfortunes to fall on his kingdom. Mingyu had to witness all of this and was prevented from interfering. He wallowed in misery for a century until the Divinity finally forgave him and wiped his memory clean.”

Seungcheol was shocked. He never knew the sweet kind hearted Mingyu he knew went through all of this. “Does Mingyu remember anything at all?”

“Nothing. As far as he’s concerned he’s only a 300 year old reaper. But do you get where I’m coming from now. Even if you think what you’re doing is harmless, you may very much end up like him. Cut ties with that human now before its too late.”

Seungcheol nodded. He knew that his boss was right, he felt in his gut. He had to stop seeing Joshua and figure out how to make Jeonghan cross over. He had little regard for what happened to himself but he had to protect Joshua. The reaper had made a promise after all. 

Thats why he wanted to protect the young man. Because of a simple promise and nothing more, right?

***

Meanwhile, in a bar across the city, a man with sharp cat-like eyes and hair as dark as night sat down and ordered a drink.

“It’s happening again,” said a brown haired man sitting next to him. He had piercings along his ears and wore a noticeable dangling feather earring from his lobe.

“You get too stressed over these things,” the black haired man smiled taking a sip from his drink.

“We’ve changed their fate multiple times yet they still managed to find each other. How can you even explain that”

“Some things are stronger than fate or rather some people are fated to be. We can only change so much.”

“So you suggest we do nothing then”

“I never said that. Why don’t we have some fun for a change? Play a little game.”

It was the brown haired man’s turn to smile. “You truly are a twisted man Junhui”

“I could say the same thing about you Hao”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can follow me on Twitter @carat_lyfe Feel free to ask me questions or drop on by for anything :)


	7. The Devil's dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you go on ahead and the read the chapter, I really want to thank everyone who left comments and kudos. I immediately smile whenever I read how much you enjoy the story. It truly makes motivates me to continue reading.
> 
> So again thank you for the love <3

Jisoo had just gotten past the entrance of the school when he heard a scream from across the hallway.

“JOSHUA!!!”

Before he could even identify the owner of the voice, he was tackled to the floor, his breath literally knocked out of him. The tuff of brown hair that was in his field of vision belonged to none other than Seokmin who had gotten a bit too carried away in his hug. Jisoo tapped his colleagues back trying to signal that he was being crushed under the weight of the other man.

Seokmin thankfully got the message and got up holding a hand out to help the other teacher get back up.

“It’s nice to see you too Seokmin but was that hug really necessary. We saw each other a few days ago,” Joshua said dusting off his pants in the process.

“Yes but that was at your HOUSE AND THIS IS THE SCHOOL. ARE YOU COMING BACK?,” the teacher asked. Jisoo couldn’t help but flinch at the shouting. Sometimes his friend rivalled an entire class of grade schoolers in terms of voice level. 

The screaming had unsurprisingly caught the attention of another one of the teachers.

“LEE SEOKMIN I SWEAR IF YOU DON’T KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN. I’LL—,” the teacher’s voice cut mid sentence as he caught sight of Jisoo in the middle of the hallway.

“Hi Seungkwan,” Jisoo said shyly waving at the other.

“JOSHUA YOU’RE BACK!,” Seungkwan responded as loudly as Seokmin had if not louder. The principle of the school had all but given up on trying to calm the two and firing them was out of the question considering how loved they were by the children. So it was no surprise that not a single other teacher or staff member came to see what all the noise was about, they probably figured they were doing another high pitch competition.

“Can both of you keep it down. I came today to tell the principle that I’m coming back to work. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of this.”

Seokmin continued to smile brightly while Seungkwan sighed and rolled his eyes.

“How can I not make a big deal out of this. You’ve been gone on for 3 weeks. I was so worried about you. You know I wanted to visit right but —,” 

“It’s fine Seungkwan,” Jisoo said cutting off the youngest before he started rambling. “Don’t worry about it. I’m doing better now.”

“Good! I hope you at least enjoyed the cupcakes I made,” Seungkwan replied cheerfully obviously trying to alleviate the mood.

“Umm what cupcakes?,” the other asked puzzled. 

“You know the ones I gave to Seokmin to give to you…”

They both turned to the other man who was looking sheepishly at the floor refusing to make any eye contact with either of them.

“Seokmin please tell me you gave the cupcakes to Joshua and he just forgot about them in his grief,”

The man continued to find the floor incredibly interesting and avoided all contact with the youngest. “Seok! MIN!,”

That caught his attention as he jumped from the sudden shouting of his name. “Okay okay! I ate them! I’m really really sorry. I only wanted to try one but then they were so good that I ate another and before I knew it they were all gone. I really did intend to bring them to Shua. I swear,” Seokmin finally responded tumbling over his words in an attempt to explain himself.

“Un-freaking-believable! To think I trusted you,” the other said clearly unappreciative of his colleague’s action. Joshua was unable to keep himself from laughing. The whole situation was so like the two of them that he couldn’t even be mad if he tried.

“Well in that case. How about we go out tonight to celebrate you coming back. Drinks courtesy of Seokmin,” Seungkwan told Joshua ignoring the sounds of protest from the third one. When he saw the hesitation in the eldest he added, “Come on. We’ll pick you up at your place. Just the three of us. It’d be good for you to go out.”

“Okay fine, let’s go. Text me the time for tonight but right now I have to go get my job back” 

“YAYY,” his two friends in unison.

The group said their goodbyes before parting ways for the time being. Seungkwan and Seokmin returning to their respective classrooms that they had neglected for some time while Joshua made his way to the principles office. 

Sure enough, Nana was in her office, papers strewn across her desk and typing furiously on her computer. On top of being the principal of the school, she was also heavily involved in multiple community organizations. Her eyes lit up when she spotted Joshua knocking on the door. She always had a soft spot for the younger man and was quick to give him leave when he told her of the terrible news.

“Joshua are you coming back?” she asked excitedly.

_Jesus is this the catchphrase of the day,_ the teacher thought to himself. 

“Yes I am. I was actually wondering when I’d be able to start again.”

“Now, tomorrow, next week. You can start whenever you want. The kids would be overjoyed to see you again and I could finally have someone controlling the two screaming idiots.” As much as she pretended to be exhausted by Seungkwan and Seokmin, she was known to always let things slide when it came to them. 

“How about Monday?,”

“Monday’s perfect! But are you sure you’re okay to comeback?”

“It took some time but I’m fine Nana. I’ll probably go insane if I continue sitting around at home. I need something to distract me” Joshua answered smirking. 

“It’s settled then. Now get out of here and do something exciting before you’re back to your regular life,” she added waving him off. 

He sighed as he walked out of the office. _It’s like the universe wants me to go out or something._

***

Mingyu was waiting patiently outside as Seungcheol stepped out of Jihoon’s office looking much more somber than when he first entered.

“What did he call you in for,” he asked sounding terrified of the answer.

“He was upset with how late I am with my paperwork,” the other reaper answered casually.

“Really? It looks like more than just paperwork judging by your face,” Mingyu replied poking the other’s cheek as if to prove a point.

“That’s because I have a lot of paperwork to do,” Seungcheol replied trying his best not to let his voice betray him.

“Hmm yeah makes sense. Paperwork is a bitch. Anyways, you hungry?”

“No but I could sure use a drink”

“Its barely noon”

“Your point?” Seungcheol asked quizzically as if it was normal to drink when most people were just starting their day.

Mingyu didn’t argue further and suggested they go back to his place to both eat and drink. If the offer of free food and drinks didn’t coax Seungcheol enough, Mingyu’s proposal to help with his paperwork fully convinced him. They went back to taller’s apartment and spent the better part of the day and evening going through the reaper’s paperwork.

Mingyu rubbed his eyes regretting his initial proposal to help. “Jesus Seungcheol how have you gotten this behind? With this amount of work, I would’ve expected more than a simple warning from Jihoon”

“I’ve been busy,” the other shrugged. Their peaceful setting was disturbed by the sudden appearance of Jeonghan.

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you with Joshua?” the spirit demanded.

“Hello to you too. As you can see, I’m fairly busy with all this late paperwork. Where were you anyways?”

Meanwhile, Mingyu looked between both of them trying to piece together the relationship between the reaper and the spirit until a sudden realization dawned on him.

“Oh! You must be the spirit tied to Seungcheol that everyone’s been gossiping about around the office.”

“You know?/You can see me?,” they both exclaimed simultaneously.

“Of course I know. It’s the most exciting to happen around here in ages. And yes I can see you, all grim reapers can see spirits, sorta in the job description. I’m Mingyu by the way”

“I’m Jeonghan but right now thats not important. You have to go see Joshua.”

“Jeonghan you aren’t my boss! And either way, I’m not getting near Jisoo ever again. He’s not my responsibility.”

“Seungcheol! You don’t understand he’s probably in serious danger!”

The reaper instantly got a lot more interested in what the other was saying. He was avoiding Joshua to protect him but what was the point if he was in danger.

“What do you mean he’s in danger!” Seungcheol asked the atmosphere in the room growing a lot darker.

“I can’t explain it but there’s a dark aura surrounding the club he’s at. I tried getting in but it’s like someone was preventing me, almost like I was being watched from somewhere.”

The reaper’s eyes grew darker. “Mingyu let’s go”

“Wha—“

“I said let’s GO”

***

Joshua had just finished getting dressed when he heard the doorbell ring. He opened the door expecting his friends to come rushing in, only to be greeted by Seungkwan’s cold judgemental stare.

“Let me get my keys and will head on out,” Jisoo said to break the silence.

“Hell no. You’re not going out dressed like that,” Seungkwan responded quickly.

“What! Why! What’s wrong with what I’m wearing,” the other asked defensively. He had his hair down, and was wearing a soft pink sweater with sleeves long enough to pass his fingertips and a pair of jeans.

“As cute as you look in that outfit, it doesn’t scream ‘going out to the bar’,” Seungkwan answered.

“Come on! We’re going out for drinks. I’m not trying to get laid. Seokmin?,” Joshua pleaded trying to find some support.

“Sorry Josh but gotta agree with Kwannie here”

He sighed, “Fine what should I wear then”

Seungkwan entered the apartment and headed directly towards the older’s room. He looked through the contents of the wardrobe before picking out a dark blue turtleneck, and matching black pants and jacket. He handed all the pieces to the other who had followed him with additional instructions to gel his hair up and add some eyeliner.

Jisoo quickly changed and gelled his hair into a three-quarter part leaving some of it to fall just below his eyebrows. He added eyeliner as Seungkwan had instructed to truly accentuate the shape of his eyes. Once he got the okay from both his friends, they left the apartment and took the taxi to one of the city’s hottest clubs. 

For an elementary school teacher, Seungkwan had quite the connections and got them in the club fairly quickly. Joshua was feeling nervous once they stepped into the place. He didn’t hate clubs but it had been awhile since he had gone to one without Jeonghan. He didn’t have much time to worry before he was being dragged by Seokmin to the bar to order some drinks. 

They down their first few drinks and made their way on to the dance floor. Joshua was known for his low tolerance to alcohol. With just a bit of alcohol in his system, his inhibitions seem to disappear and his body followed the rhythm of the music. As he was dancing, he felt someone tap his shoulder and turned around to find a young woman with long luscious black hair. She had large pink lips, a small nose and piercing brown eyes. She wore a thin strapped rainbow dress that clung tightly to her body and a matching crystal choker around her neck. She was undoubtedly a very beautiful woman. 

“May I?,” she whispered into his ear as she put her hand on his shoulder. Before settling down with Jeonghan, he had dated both men and women alike and now, in front of such a gorgeous woman, Joshua had no other choice but to accept. He pulled her in and started swaying in tune with the heavy bass of the music. Seungkwan and Seokmin both whistled once they spotted the two of them dancing. The pair made for a very attractive couple and, in his alcohol filled dazed, Joshua thought that maybe tonight he could forget about Jeonghan.

Jisoo lost sight of his friends but the two continued to dance closely until the woman pulled away. She grabbed his arm and dragged him to the bar. Once she reached the bar, he ordered another round of drinks for the two of them.

“Mind if I get your name,” the woman asked, a smirk plastered on her face.

“Hong Jisoo but you can call me Joshua,” he answered, returning the smile. “And what might your name be?”

“Park Sooyoung but people call me Joy.”

“Hm Joy what a pretty name.” 

The other laughed clearly enjoying the compliment. “Seems like your friends might have ditched you,” she said once she recovered from her laughter. Joshua looked around as if to confirm the statement but couldn’t see much beyond the people at the bar.

“I guess they left,” Jisoo responded.

“That’s a shame. You can always come back with me.” Joy replied tilting her head slightly while still keeping eye contact. In any other situation Joshua would’ve surely refused, but with the amount of alcohol in his system and an unfulfilled sense of longing in him he was rather inclined to do something out of the ordinary.

“Sure. I’d like that.”

The two hastily finished their drinks and pushed their way trough the crowd. Once they were outside, Joshua moved away from the crowded entrance hoping to hail a cab but was halted by Joy who forcefully dragged him in the other direction.

“We’re not getting a cab?,” he questioned.

“No need. I live close by”

They were two blocks from the club when she suddenly pulled Jisoo into a nearby alley. She was much stronger than she looked as she pushed him against a wall with relative ease.

“I’m sorry but I’m not exactly comfortable doing it in an alley,” the fresh air had cleared some of the young man’s thoughts and he was now starting to reconsider this whole affair. Joy let out a short wicked laugh that sent shivers down Joshua’s spine.

“Jun and Minghao were right. Your soul looks delicious indeed,” she uttered speaking more for herself than the other’s benefit.

“My-my soul?!.” Joshua stammered.

“Shhh, it’s easier if you don’t resist,” The warm brown of her eyes transformed into something more ominous, black orbs with sparkling red specks scattered across. He tried pushing her back but his arms were quickly pinned to the wall by her strong grip, all he could do was panic as she leaned in closer. Joy sealed their lips with a kiss and his fighting spirit along with his energy seem to leave him. He was about to pass out when he heard a shout somewhere outside of his field of vision.

“Get off of him!”

Joy was tackled away from Joshua, her lips parting from his own before the transfer could be complete. He collapsed to the ground and tried to comprehend the scene before him. Mingyu stood at the entrance of the alley while Seungcheol stood protectively in front of Jisoo. Joy was getting back up and pulling her dress back down. She seemed rather unbothered by the sudden attack, mostly pissed off that her meal had been interrupted. 

“Well this was not exactly what I expected,” she said looking between Joshua and Seungcheol. 

“What do you want with Joshua?,” Seungcheol asked, blue flames forming at the tip of his fingers.

“I think its pretty obvious what a demon would want with a mortal,” Joy answered cocking her hip to the side. “What I’m curious about is why two grim reapers are protecting a human? And more importantly why one of them is tied to a spirit,” she added staring at the empty space next to Seungcheol.

“It’s none of your damn business,” Seungcheol shouted back, signalling his colleague to come closer. “Jisoo stay behind me,” he added after the young man got back up. The flames grew covering his entire hand and started taking some form. Jeonghan recognized those flames from his first encounter with the reaper.

For most of known history, the Reaper association had competed with all manners of other worldly beings for human spirits. While the reapers attempted to help humans cross to the after life, most of the other entities such as demons and ghouls were more keen on consuming the souls. Thus, the association began equipping their members with unique tools to fight off these creatures with the sole rule that they must never be used against humans or their spirit. 

The flames took the shape of Seungcheol’s given weapon, a set of foot long daggers attached at the hilt by a chain. Meanwhile, Mingyu pulled out a double headed spear from his sleeve that was almost as tall as the man himself. Both men were prepared for a fight with the demon.

“Looks like you boys came prepared. If I didn’t know any better I’d say one of you was in love with this mortal,” Joy said playfully completely unbothered by the weapons. 

Seungcheol’s shoulders tense at the last statement, which was not lost to the demon. 

“As much as I’d love to fight you two, I’m quite hungry tonight and would much rather find a somewhat simpler meal,” she stated, walking casually towards them. The reapers gripped their weapons tightly ready for any sudden attacks but Joy simply walked past them pausing only to whisper something in Seungcheol’s ear.

“Watch out lover boy. You know what happens to reapers who fall for humans.”

At that she walked out of the alley and disappeared into the night.

The reapers immediately rushed to Jisoo, “Are you alright?”

The last thing the young man saw was the worry in Seungcheol’s eyes before he collapsed.

“JISOO!” Jeonghan screamed sending a flock of ravens flying off the surrounding buildings. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is probably not what a lot of you signed up for lol. Started as a goblin au transformed into a mix of animes I've watched but at least it's getting somewhere :D
> 
> As always, you can talk to me on Twitter @carat_lyfe


	8. The red that binds us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: "I hate when authors don't update regularly"  
> Also me: *doesn't update for 4 months*
> 
> Yeah so that was a long hiatus that was truly unintentional. This chapter is sorta longer than the others but not by much and i apologize for that. 
> 
> Don't worry tho I haven't abandoned this fic or anything. I already have the ending planned so don't give up on me now. Unfortunately, I won't be able to update for the next 3 weeks since I'm going to Korea and Japan!! But if I'm able to follow my writing plan, I'll be done this fic by the end of June since there's only 2 or 3 chapters left

Seungcheol caught Jisoo’s head before it could hit the ground. He picked him up and carried him bridal style before turning to Mingyu.

“Let’s go,” he said coldly, letting nothing show on his face. The other reaper shared his expression, nodding as a response. Their neutral and calm expressions contrasted sharply with the agitated and almost manic state that Jeonghan was in.

A cloud of black smoke rapidly formed around the group. Before the cloud could encompass them, Mingyu noticed, from the corner of his eye, a movement at the entrance of the alley. When he turned to investigate the movement, he locked eyes with a raven haired man whose sharp eyes seemed to pierce through Mingyu’s entire existence.

The man was on the verge of speaking but the cloud disappeared as quickly as it appeared bringing the people inside with it. He couldn’t help but stare at the now empty spot where the tall man was standing barely a second ago.

“…Mingyu”

***

The group reappeared in Jisoo’s apartment, black smoke dissipating around them. Seungcheol quickly went to the bedroom and laid the young man down. He had little to no experience dealing in medicine or any form of healing for that matter. His only experience was with the aftermath of failed medicine that usually preceded the official start of his job. Right now, he had no choice but to rely on the only other human in the room who was rather indisposed.

“Jeonghan I need you to calm down,” Seungcheol said calmly.

“Calm down!! How can I calm down when Joshua fainted because he was attacked by a demon?,” the spirit replied hysterically.

 “Jeonghan —,”

“Why did she choose Joshua? This is my fault isn’t it? Getting him mixed up in other worldly affairs. If only I had —,”

“JEONGHAN,” the reaper interrupted, finally quieting the other. “We can worry about those things later. Right now I need you to tell me what I’m suppose to do with an unconscious human.”

The spirit looked between the reaper and his boyfriend, and it seemed to finally dawn on him that the young man was still not out of the woods.

“Right okay. We need to put hot compresses on his forehead and make sure he’s comfortable. He’ll probably be out till morning. If he doesn’t wake up, you’ll have to take him to the hospital.”

“Are you sure?”

“Well I’ve never dealt with someone’s soul almost being sucked out but yeah other than that I’m sure”

Seungcheol was glad that Jeonghan’s signature brand of sarcasm was making an appearance even if the circumstances didn’t exactly merit it.

“Fine. I guess we’ll just wait till morning then,” the reaper said slightly exasperated while going back to the kitchen.

Mingyu was still standing in the middle of the room looking very uncomfortable being left alone in a stranger’s house.

“So is he alright?” the tall man asked.

“Jeonghan thinks he should be fine by morning but can’t be certain.”

“Cool cool cool,” Mingyu replied jittery. “I think I’ll be heading off.”

“Oh okay, I’ll see you soon then,” the other said slightly surprised.

Mingyu nodded and just like that he left the apartment. 

“That was strange,” Jeonghan said after his departure.

“Honestly, at this point, I don’t even question Mingyu’s behaviour,” the reaper interjected as he heated some water. He poured the water on a towel and brought it to Jisoo’s room. He put the hot compress on the young man’s forehead and took a seat in the nearby armchair.

“Are you just gonna stare at him for the rest of the night,” Jeonghan asked suspiciously.

“Well who else is gonna make sure he’s fine,”

“You’re right this isn’t creepy at all…just get some sleep Seungcheol. I’ll wake you up if there’s anything.”

As he was about to object, the reaper yawned as if to confirm the spirits statement. “Okay fine but wake me up if there’s anything.”

“Yeah sure thing. No problem,” he replied watching the reaper get comfortable on the small chair.

Jeonghan couldn’t help the guilt that was creeping up on him. The reaper had helped him when he didn’t have to and even went through the trouble of saving Joshua, a mortal he barely knew, from a demon. Yet, the spirit had neglected to share vital information that he had discovered on one of his nightly adventures. The secret was not his to keep but he knew that once Seungcheol found out, Joshua would no longer be his and as selfish as it was, Jeonghan preferred keeping Joshua to himself just for a bit longer.

*** 

Mingyu left the apartment quickly but had no intention of going back home just yet. He transported himself back to the alley. He wanted, no, needed to find that man from earlier. At no point in his entire existence, did he feel such an intense reaction because of someone, let alone their stare. Those man’s eyes had left him open and vulnerable, and now he needed answers. 

He was standing in the exact same spot as before, facing the entrance of the alley, but he couldn’t spot a single person. The other side of the alley was dark and at a quick glance, Mingyu didn’t notice anything of interest. He was starting to deflate when a dark figure moved from the shadows. Once the figure emerged from the darkness, he recognized it as the man from earlier.

They stood silently staring at each other both seemingly hesitating to make the first move. After what felt like an eternity, Mingyu finally spoke up.

“Hi. um. You probably saw what happened earlier and um this is gonna seem strange but um do I know you?” the reaper asked hesitantly.

Those simple words were enough to illicit a strong reaction from the other. Tears started to well up in the raven haired man’s eyes, threatening to spill over.

“Min-Mingyu! It’s really you!,” the man screamed, tears streaming down his face now.

The reaper had no idea how this man knew his name. In any normal circumstance, one would step away from a stranger screaming your name but for some reason, seeing this man crying broke Mingyu’s heart. So, he did the only thing that felt right. He stepped closer and wiped the tears with his thumb brushing his cheek in the process. That action seemed to stop further tears from falling as the man stared back at Mingyu who brought his arms around the other. He tensed before relaxing in the warm embrace of the reaper.

“I don’t know what’s happening but I’m here. Everything is gonna be okay,” Mingyu whispered, stroking the other’s hair. “Can I know your name?”

The man looked back up. “Wonwoo. Jeon Wonwoo”

***

The sun had long risen when Joshua finally woke up. He squinted as he adjusted to the bright rays shining in his room. He was still wearing last night’s clothes save for the jacket and was sporting a cold wet towel on his forehead. The memories from the previous night were foggy as he sat up on the bed. However, when he spotted Seungcheol passed out on his armchair, the whole ordeal with the demon suddenly came flashing back. Jisoo couldn’t suppress the groan that escaped his lips as the memory brought a splitting headache along with it.

The small sound was apparently enough to wake up Seungcheol from his deep sleep. As soon as the reaper took notice of Jisoo, he sprung up and made his way to the side of the bed.

“Joshua are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital? Do you need —”

He was abruptly interrupted by Jisoo’s raised hand.

“Seungcheol I get that you’re worried but please quiet down. I have a huge headache.”

“Okay but do you need anything?,” he whispered as to not inconvenience the other. 

“Right now all I want is a shower,” he replied while getting up and heading to the bathroom. The reaper had unfortunately taken that as an invitation to follow him. “Umm Seungcheol what are you doing?”

“I’m helping you shower,” he said as if it was the most obvious fact in the world. Joshua blushed wildly at the statement.

“No you’re not! I can shower on my own!,” the young man replied to hide his blushing face. Seungcheol still didn’t seem to get the message as he stared sheepishly at the other. “Just wait in the living room till I’m done!,” he exclaimed before stalking off to the bathroom.

“You really had to offer him your help in the shower”, Jeonghan said having decided to reappear.

“I was just making sure that he was alright and didn’t I tell you to wake me up if anything happen. Where did you go anyways?”

“You seem quite involved for someone who wanted nothing to do with all this last time I checked.”

“Well things change,” he replied bitterly. 

Meanwhile, Joshua was still reeling back from the reaper’s comment. He knew the reaper lacked all kinds of social skills but the fact that he cared so much for his well being set off butterflies in his stomach. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down before entering the shower. 

When he finally made it back to the living room fully clothed, Seungcheol was arguing with what he assumed to be Jeonghan but could also be thin air. His eyes really couldn’t tell the difference. As he was about to make his presence known, the reaper’s rage flared causing him to raise his voice even more.

“Don’t be ridiculous Jeonghan! You’re a ghost not a demon!"

To Joshua, the silence that followed presented no threat but it was obviously a whole different story for Seungcheol.

“What kind of MONSTER are you! Do you have no humanity!”

Joshua was about to intervene before whatever this was got out of hand but was cut off by another flare up.

“Who the hell puts PINEAPPLE ON THEIR PIZZA!”

Joshua stood at the entrance of the kitchen blinking rapidly wondering if he had knocked his head the night before. It was highly unlikely that Seungcheol was this angry about pizza dressings, right?

“Seung—"

“Pineapple on pizza might as well just die”

Yup he had heard right and laughter was the only sane reaction that Joshua could elicit considering the circumstances.The laughter finally attracted Seungcheol’s attention away from the spirit. 

“Joshua are you alright?”

The young man waved him off as he recovered from his sudden outburst. When he finally caught his breath, he answered the other, “I swear, a few weeks ago, there’s no way you could’ve convinced me that I’d have a grim reaper in my kitchen arguing with the ghost of my boyfriend about pineapple pizza”

“Please tell me you agree with me! Tell him he’s wrong,” Seungcheol pouted. The subject clearly touched a sensitive nerve on his part.

_That’s no fair. You’re able to express your point of view to him._

“Sorry Hannie but I’m gonna have to agree with Cheol here. Pineapples on pizza is really disgusting.”

The statement made Seungcheol beam with pride and he quickly rushed to Joshua to give him a hug. The young man tensed at the closeness, which immediately made the reaper back away.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me”

“No no its fine. It was just unexpected…It actually felt sorta nice,” Joshua admitted causing him to blush.

“Oh” the reaper replied bringing his hand to scratch the back of his head. “You’re welcome then” he added, ducking his head. The both stayed silent for a few more seconds before Seungcheol finally spoke up.

“So you hungry?”

“Starving actually,” the young man responded.

“Perfect then let’s get pizza,” the reaper said dropping his hand to his side “without pineapples” he added as an afterthought, the battle wounds still fresh.

Joshua followed the other’s hand noticing a thin red string tied to his pinky. _Was that always there?,_ he thought to himself unable to remember there being anything at all on the other’s hand. He was about to ask Seungcheol about his new accessory when his stomach gargled itself awake.

“Pizza sounds great!”

***

Mingyu was sitting by his bed watching carefully over the man named Wonwoo. Last night, the man had collapsed shortly after revealing his name either from shock or exhaustion. The tall reaper felt that it was his duty to bring him back to a safe place, which resulted in him bringing Wonwoo back to his apartment. He had kept a watchful eye on the other not getting a single shred of sleep the entire night, his thoughts keeping him wide awake. 

Wonwoo’s awakening was far less gentle than Joshua’s as he launched himself out of the bed at the sight of Mingyu. The action startled the reaper who stood up rapidly causing the chair to topple over. The atmosphere was tense with both men simply stared at each other unmoving. 

“So i didn’t dream last night. You’re actually real,” Wonwoo finally said, looking around the room. “Is this your apartment?”

The question caught Mingyu off guard since he was expecting an explanation on the man’s identity. “Um yeah. It’s not much but its good enough for me”

“What kind of idiot brings a stranger to their apartment,”

The comment baffled the reaper. “Excuse me. I saved you from sleeping on the street last night so a thank you would be appreciated. Who the hell are you anyway and how do you know my name?”

“You really haven’t changed since we parted,” the young man replied with a smile. “And like I told you last night, I’m Jeon Wonwoo, your soulmate or have you forgotten about me in the last 500 years.”

***

Seungcheol was on his third slice of meat lovers pizza when Joshua decided to reprimand him.

“You know how much salt there is on that pizza” 

“So it’s not like I need to care for my health being a reaper and all. Are you worried about me?” he replied smugly. His question was answered with napkins thrown at his face. the reaper simply laughed as he continued eating his pizza. Joshua, on the other hand, sat and continued contemplating his still untouched food.

“Thank you by the way. Not only for last night but for everything you’ve done for me. It’s probably not in your job description to be taking care of a human…but I’ve enjoyed your company” the young man said, muttering the last part.

Seungcheol’s smile grew ten fold. No one had ever said they enjoyed to be around him and the fact that the comment came from Jisoo somehow warmed his heart.

“It’s no biggy. I um like you too,” the reaper replied not realizing the full meaning behind those words. “Now can you start eating so I don’t look like such a pig.”

Jisoo bowed his head as a response and brought his first slice up to his mouth. Only then did Seungcheol notice the red string tied around the other’s pinky.

_Strange_ , the reaper thought to himself. _I don’t recall a string of fate ever being on his finger._

*** 

“I’ve done as you requested and hope that it was executed to your liking,” the woman said, bowing to the two men.

“The results were even better than we expected. Here is your payment as promised”

“I still don’t understand why you couldn’t have done this yourself,” Joy responded playfully.

“But where’s the fun in that,” Jun said.

“I’ll be off now and if you need anything else, you know my fee,” she said before disappearing into the night.

“Was she really worth the price we paid” Minghao replied coldly.

“Oh Haohao don’t be like that. What’s 13 souls to people like us” Jun commented. “And either way we haven’t even reached the climax yet.”

“Yes but time is of the essence, if you don’t recall,” the other answered.

“You may be right about that,” the man with the sharp eyes admitted seeming to consider this fact for the first time. “Then how about you take a turn”

The statement made Minghao smirk. “Finally”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again thank you for reading and feel free to comment or follow me on Twitter @carat_lyfe


	9. Unravelling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back after a month or so. I couldn't write for most of the month coz I was travelling then I got surgery and I'm moving soon but the new chapter is finally here :D

A week had past since the incident and Seungcheol hadn’t left Joshua’s side for those seven days. At first, the reaper had stayed with the young man to protect him from any further attacks and to ensure a full recovery from the previous one. But as the week went by, those explanations became nothing more than excuses that he told the other whenever he asked. He had actually stayed more for the company than anything else.

If Joshua had seen through that simple lie, he didn’t let the reaper know. Truth be told, he also enjoyed Seungcheol’s company. He provided a certain ironic comfort considering their circumstances. Some may have chalked it up to post morning delirium but Jisoo would’ve said otherwise. 

Over the course of those days they had unintentionally established a routine. Seungcheol would wake up early as usual and transport himself to Jisoo’s apartment before the other was awake. The teacher would wake up soon after and join the other for breakfast. The both then headed out to work: Joshua to teach and Seungcheol to collect souls. Seungcheol would always finish his daily collects before school was out and would get back to the apartment before the other. On five of those seven days, the reaper had attempted to cook. The first two times almost resulted in a grease fire and the last attempts produced nothing that could be qualified as edible food. Seungcheol would then order in, out of guilt for the mess he had caused. They would enjoy supper together and laze around on the couch watching television until Seungcheol had to go do his nightly soul collects. The two would say their good nights and repeat the whole cycle the next day. 

The whole thing felt oddly natural as if they had been doing it for years. 

The only true difference from day to day was the length of the red string tied around Jisoo’s pinky. Everyday the small piece of fabric seemed to be revealing itself more and more. Having started as a simple ring around his finger, it now extended all the way to the ground before disappearing. He was no expert on the subject but he assumed the abundant slack was due to Jisoo’s soulmate being nearby.

_Maybe a work colleague_ , the reaper had thought to himself.

The extension of the string was also accompanied by the weakening of his own ribbon tying him to Jeonghan. The reaper could swear that the ribbon’s width was smaller than it originally was and that it had become more translucent as time went by. Jeonghan had also made himself more scarce, being absent more often than not. 

The simultaneous extension of one connection and the weakening of another seemed like too big of a coincidence. Seungcheol concluded that Jeonghan would be able to cross over once the red string was complete. Meaning that Jisoo needed to figure out who his soulmate was. 

To the reaper, it seemed rather cruel that faith would bound Jeonghan to this earth until Joshua found his one true love. As if to completely discount their relationship together. That is why he was stuck between telling Jeonghan about this and keeping it a secret.  The reaper in him wanted to announce the news in order to ensure that Jeonghan would leave this world but another part of him didn’t want to break the young man even more than he already had been.

Unbeknownst to the reaper, his own red string had lengthened and Joshua had taken notice. The teacher had kept silent about it when his personal research had revealed the true meaning behind the item.

***

“Hey you wanna grab a coffee,” Seungcheol asked Jisoo out of the blue while they were lazing around on the sofa. It was Saturday and the teacher hadn't bothered to fix himself up, meaning his bed hair was ever present and he was still wearing an oversized t-shirt. The combination contributed to his lost kitten look that the reaper couldn’t help but find adorable. 

“Grab a coffee…,” Jisoo started turning to look at the reaper. “Like a date?”

Seungcheol’s eyes widened as he realized the implications of his words. “Friendly coffee! I’d never ask you. Not that I wouldn’t wanna go on a date with you,” he said rapidly, stumbling over his words in an attempt to explain himself. “Not that I wanna go on a date now. Just thought it'd be a nice change of pace…”

He decided to stop himself there before he dug himself a bigger hole. They had gotten along so well the past week and he just had to ruin it with his weirdness.

“Seungcheol relax. I was only joking,” Jisoo chuckled. “although i wouldn’t mind going on a date with you.”

The last comment caused the reapers to choke on his own saliva, which elicited a laugh from Jisoo. “Just give me a few minutes to get ready,” he added before heading in the bathroom.

_I swear that man is more devious than some of the demons I’ve met_ , the reaper thought to himself.

On the other side of the bathroom door, Joshua was in full bush trying to calm himself down. _Why would I even say something like that??_

***

The two left shortly after deciding to stroll the streets until they found a place they both liked. As they were walking, Seungcheol suddenly stopped without warning letting Joshua continue his rambling without an audience. It took a few moments for the young man to realize that he was speaking to no one. He turned around to find the reaper staring intently at a shop named “Shib Shib café”, which the sign advertised as a Shiba Inu café.

“Would you like to go to this one?,” Joshua asked.

“Only if you want to,” Seungcheol answered still staring at the café’s sign.

“Come on let’s go,” the young man said grabbing the other’s arm and dragging him inside.

The look on Seungcheol’s face was one of pure joy as he saw the numerous dogs roaming around the café. He quickly went off to play with the Shiba’s leaving Joshua to guess what the reaper wanted to drink. He ended up ordering a simple green tea for himself and the most unhealthy drink on the menu for Seungcheol. The reaper had an incredible sweet tooth.

As he waited for his drinks to be made, he noticed a tall, dark haired man waiting near the counter. The man looked rather familiar but Joshua was unable to pinpoint his exact identity.

“Wonwoo!” someone called out in the café causing the man to turn. Just like that Joshua recognized the other as the same man who had accosted him in the park a few weeks ago. He internally debated whether to greet Wonwoo or get Seungcheol and leave the café. 

The decision was made for him when the man who had called out the fortuneteller’s name came into view holding a puppy tightly in his arms.

“Won! I’m getting a shiba,”

“Are you sure you can handle that Gyu,”

The other reaper pouted as a response but his expression rapidly changed as hespotted Joshua awkwardly staring at them.

“Joshua!,” he said lighting up.

Before the young man could answer, his own reaper came rushing back holding an equally small puppy in his arms.

“Do you think I can bring this little bean with me to work”

“Seungcheol?,” the tall reaper exclaimed.

“Mingyu?,” the other reaper hollered

“Order for Wonwoo!” the barista shouted.

“Joshua??,” Seungcheol asked in the confusion.

“I swear to god if you say Wonwoo I’m going to murder you,” the fortuneteller told Mingyu who had in mouth open ready to speak.

“Okay then now that we’ve made the rounds of everyone’s name how about we sit down and sort this all out,” Joshua supplied feeling the frustration levels rise. He could especially feel the cold stares of the other customers who did not appreciate the sudden outburst.

They all got their coffee order and sat down at a table. The two reapers were too distracted by the dogs around them to actually be paying attention to where they sat. 

“So how do you two know each other?,” Jisoo asked first.

“Mingyu here is my soulmate,” Wonwoo said casually. Jisoo choked on his tea and Seungcheol finally turned to pay attention to the conversation.

The reaper looked between the two man having obviously missed the announcement. “Wait did you just say soulmate,” he belatedly responded. “But-t where’s your red string if that’s true,” Seungcheol exclaimed pointing at the lack of material connecting the two. He still remembered the horrible faith that was reserved for Mingyu’s last human lover. Mingyu calmly pushed the accusatory finger away from Wonwoo while holding an almost full grown dog in his other arm.

“Cheol why don’t you calm down and —“

“Wait how the hell do you know this guy,” Seungcheol asked Jisoo, pointing once again to the dark haired man across the table.

“Oh, I met him in a park at night and he read my fortune. Pretty cryptic but he’s actually the reason I let you in to my apartment that first time” he responded nonchalantly.

“So you let a stranger approach you in a park at night and then based on his advice, you let another stranger into your place,” the reaper reiterated.

The teacher blushed and looked away from the reaper. “Well when you put it that way…”

Wonwoo cleared his throat garnering the attention of everyone at the table. “Yes. Mingyu and I are soulmates although we don’t have a red string to prove it. As you may have heard Seungcheol, the higher ups were not exactly pleased the last time we fell in love. In the process of our separation, our red string was cut in order to sever any future connection between us.” He paused to ensure that everyone was still following and then carried on. “It took five centuries for me to be properly reincarnated with my fortunetelling abilities but I’ve been searching for him ever since my first reincarnation.” 

Seungcheol couldn’t ignore the soft tone and unmistakable joy on Wonwoo’s face at the last statement. The young man had found the love of his life and judging by the look on Mingyu’s face, the other reaper shared that sentiment. 

“But won’t you share the same faith as last time if you stay with each other,” the reaper worried.

This time it was Mingyu’s turn to light up with joy. “No! That’s the great part about having no red string. Since we’re technically not soulmates from the Divinity’s perspective, there’s no real reason to persecute us. Plus, my little fortuneteller here said that he saw us being together in the future.”

The excited reaper finally put the dog down and grabbed Wonwoo’s hand. “Although I don’t remember our entire past together, I feel like I’ve always known him and if we have to face an uphill battle, I’m glad I’ll be fighting with him”

The heartfelt confession silenced any other comments from the the other two. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m gonna go drown myself in Shiba cuteness,” he added before getting up and plopping himself down in a sea of dogs.

Seungcheol turned to Joshua with puppy dog eyes

The teacher laughed. “You don’t need my permission to go play with the dogs Seungcheol. Go ahead.”

The reaper couldn’t get up fast enough as he made his way towards Mingyu to play with the dogs.

Joshua looked over fondly at the reaper remembering how different he acted when they first met.

“You two are cute together,” Wonwoo said out of nowhere.

“What? Um no we’re not together,” the other supplied.

“Oh maybe my divination was wrong, although it’s never been wrong before” the fortune-teller muttered. “I assumed your red string was connected to Seungcheol’s even though it’s not complete.”

The last piece of information caught the young man off guard. “My red string?”

“Yes the one tied to your pinky and disappearing somewhere in the distance…Can you not see it?”

“No! I didn’t even know this whole red string thing was real until I saw the one on Cheol…”

Meanwhile, Seungcheol and Mingyu were having the time of their life playing with all the Shibas, which seemed incredibly attracted to the reapers. For such lively creatures, they sure loved death. In the midst of petting the dogs, Mingyu finally spoke up.

“So why have you been hanging around Joshua?”

The question caught the other by surprise and he had to scramble to find an answer.

“Honestly I’m not sure. I know it’s against the rules to be hanging around humans andI’ll probably be scolded by Jihoon but there’s something so comforting about being with him. It’s like we’ve already known each other for awhile”

He looked up from his puppy to find Mingyu smiling peacefully at him. “Stop doing that. It’s not a good look on you.”

“Ahhhh Cheol don’t be that way”

“He’s right,” Wonwoo added coming towards them. “You look like an idiot”

“All of you are mean,” Mingyu replied childishly. 

Wonwoo squatted next to his soulmate and picked up a puppy. “I love you”

“So do I,” the other said begrudgingly before accepting Wonwoo’s invitation to kiss.

As the lovers kissed, the other two couldn’t help but looked away both blushing as they made eye contact with each other.

After saying goodbye to all the dogs, which the two reapers insisted on doing, the group left the café. They parted ways soon after.

“Their love has been doomed from the start,” Wonwoo said after separating from the other two. 

“But maybe things will be different this time. Maybe you’re premonition will be wrong,” Mingyu said hopelessly.

His lover smiled at him. “Yeah maybe I’ll be wrong"

***

Seungcheol escorted Jisoo back to his apartment even after the latter insisted that there would be no security threat in the next five minutes that would require the reaper’s help. Seungcheol was surprised to find Jeonghan waiting at his ex-boyfriend’s. 

“Why hello Jeonghan. Glad to know you missed me.”

_Seungcheol this is not the time to develop a sense of humour. I’ve been waiting for you two to comeback!,_ Jeonghan exclaimed.

“Why not come see me directly then. It’s not like my location is hidden from you,” he said pointing at the ribbon on his ankle.

_Because this is something better to be discussed in private so can you just sit down._

“What does Hannie want?,” Joshua asked feeling out of the loop.

“I don’t know but he wants us to sit down,” the reaper answered. 

The pair sat down and waited for Jeonghan to say what he needed to say. The spirit was obviously nervous, pacing back and forth on the carpeted living room. A full minute had past and he had yet to disclose the urgent matter. 

This prompted Jisoo to lean in to Seungcheol and whisper, “So what’s he saying?”

“Nothing,”

“What do you mean nothing?”

“I literally mean nothing. He hasn’t spoken at all…Jeonghan, I’m sure it’s not that big of deal. There’s not much that can surp—,”

_Joshua and you are soulmates!,_ Jeonghan shouted, cutting Seungcheol off before he could finish that thought.

The reaper went silent as he processed Jeonghan’s outburst. He turned to Jisoo, who was staring intently at him waiting for his spirit to human translation, then back at Jeonghan until finally deciding to stand up.

“Wh-hat”

_You and Joshua are soulmates. There’s a red string tied between you two._

“Seungcheol mind telling me what’s happening,” Jisoo said expectantly.

“Um well I don’t know how to say this but um…according to Jeonghan, and to be clear this is not my belief whatsoever —“

“Can you just tell me what he says instead of rambling,” the young man cut the other off.

“We’re soulmates!” the reaper shouted, choosing to use the same method as the spirit. “Apparently the red string on your finger is connected to me.”

It was Joshua’s turn to process. He didn’t seem all that shocked about the information. He stared at his hands unable to find any string and then looked at the obvious one on Seungcheol’s hand.

“Wonwoo mentioned something about this,” Jisoo finally said. “I can’t see anything on my hand but I can see one on your’s Cheol. Jeonghan how did you find out?”

_I noticed the string when I first saw both of you in the same room. I didn’t say anything because — cause I wanted Joshua for myself for just a bit longer. I know it’s terrible and you can be upset with me after but let me finish._

The reaper couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He repeated Jeonghan’s words to Joshua who seemed to easily accept all of it as fact. What worried Seungcheol the most was how willing he was ready to believe it all as well.

_I’ve been digging up information on both of your past lives while I was away from you. It’s crazy how many wandering spirits are around that are ready to tell you their life stories. Long story short, this is the first time in 500 years that you two have been able to meet again._

“What do you mean meet again?” Jisoo asked after being briefed by Seungcheol.

_Seungcheol do you know how one becomes a reaper?_

“Not really. I’ve just always been a reaper”

_All reapers are chosen specifically by the gods for various reasons. In your case, it serves as a punishment for past crimes…Seungcheol, 500 years ago, you were a king and Jisoo, your concubine_

“I was…we were. What did I do then to deserve this punishment then?” Seungcheol questioned slowly processing the entire thing.

_While you ruled, you sought counsel from a legendary fortuneteller appointing him as your primary advisor. He was never wrong until one fatal day when, following his advice, you allowed Joshua to exit the palace and tour the countryside. Your enemies used the opportunity to assassinate him. Upon hearing of the murder of your soulmate, you went berserk and had the fortuneteller along with anyone close to him executed. Your rage didn’t stop there and you had your army attack your enemies without any strategy. The battle slaughtered half your men. You were soon assassinated by your own advisors who saw you as a mad man. As punishment for your wrath and selfishness, the Gods sentenced you to become a reaper until you redeemed yourself._

Seungcheol was speechless.

“Seungcheol are you alright?” Jisoo asked worried about the look in the reaper’s eyes. This prompted him to recount the whole story to the young man who turned to the empty space in front of him. “Hannie there must be some mistake. This can’t be right.”

_I’ve triple check the facts and they all point back to this._

The reaper stood up abruptly and made his way towards the door.

“Seungcheol where are you going!” Jisoo called out.

“I’m sorry Joshua but this is a lot and…I need some alone time to process this.”

“And what about me! Do my feelings about this whole thing come into play at all!”

“I’m truly sorry,” the reaper added before disappearing, leaving Joshua behind with tears in his eyes.

***

The apartment that the reaper had grown used to now felt cold without the presence of another person. The utter darkness that enveloped the place other than the soft light from outside did nothing to help Seungcheol’s mood. He was about to make his way to bed when he caught sight of a shadow on his couch. The light from outside was not strong enough to reveal the figure but the reaper thought it was Mingyu wanting to speak about his new boyfriend.

“I’m not in the mood to talk Mingyu” the reaper asked flicking the lights on. The light shun upon the room chasing the shadows away to the corners.

“You seem to be mistaken Seungcheol,” a man with piercings and brown hair replied.

“Who are you? And how do you know my name?,” the reaper said warily.

“Now is that anyway to treat your honoured guests?” another man whispered in the reaper’s ear causing him to spin around. The black haired man was quick to react and jumped out of the way of Seungcheol’s newly appeared daggers.

“But I suppose it is impolite to enter a man’s home without permission,” the dark haired man added.

“Put the weapons away. You’d never win in a fight with us either way,” the man on the couch declared.

“Hao don’t be so rude. Apologies for my friend. My name is Jun and the grumpy guy is Minghao. Although those are just some of the names we’re known as.”

“Most would call us Gods. Some angels. Others devils. Depends on who you’re asking,” Minghao told the reaper.

Seungcheol’s eyes grew as he realized who exactly was in his house. He immediately bowed hoping that the highest order of celestial beings would be clement for pulling a weapon on them.

“It’s fine no need to for such formalities. We’re just here to talk,” Jun said making his way towards the couch and taking a seat. 

“You know Seungcheol our job is usually pretty easy. We sit back and let fate do its work with minimal interference on our part” Minghao started.

“But sometimes fate skews the natural order and then we have to come intervene to bring back balance,” Jun continued. “Unfortunately, you seem to have disrupted the natural balance with your conduct”

“As you are probably aware, life and death are two side of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other yet the two should never meet. That is where the reaper association comes in to escort the dead to there respective world and let the living continue in their own,” Minghao said

“Now isn’t it odd that an ambassador for death is hanging around with a human and a spirit,” Jun said teasingly. “You little trouble maker have broken not only a key rule but have also failed to accomplish your job.” He added with a smirk. The bastards were having fun at his expense.

“So are you here to punish me then,” Seungcheol replied, remembering what had happened to Mingyu.

“Oh we wouldn’t be so cruel,” Minghao said sarcastically. “We’ve decided to give you one final warning.” 

“As a gesture of our good will. We will even sever the tie between you and that spirit.”

The words were punctuated by a flick of the wrist, which unraveled the red ribbon around Seungcheol’s ankle. The ribbon floated away before burning up in thin air. 

“All we ask is that you cease all contact with the human and show that spirit the way.” Jun said pleasantly as if he were only asking for a glass of water.

“Soulmates or not. There are rules and we expect you will do your best to follow them. We hope you will be smart enough to not repeat the past. Remember that Mingyu’s disobedience cost him dearly and thousands of men were unfortunately dragged into the whirlwind that followed.”

The words stunned Seungcheol and made his decision certain. “I will do as you wish,” he said, bowing deeply.

“Perfect” Jun said joyfully. “We’ll be off then”

Minghao snapped his fingers, enveloping the room in complete darkness. When the light came back, there was a single black feather on the sofa. The apartment was now empty save the furniture but that could never fill the giant hole in Seungcheol’s heart that had suddenly appeared. He was sinking in a sea of darkness. The loneliness dragging him further than he had ever been. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it seems a bit rushed but tbh its been a year and I just wanna finish this fic. There's one or two chapters left.


	10. Fated mistake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was suppose to be the final chapter but I ended up splitting it in two since the second part is taking me much longer to write.
> 
> So yeah one more chapter and it's all over

Joshua couldn’t even make it to his bedroom before collapsing into tears. The night had shook him to his core and the only other person that understood what he was going through had left him alone. The past few months had left him feeling cursed but Seungcheol’s presence in the past week made him believe otherwise. However, the reaper’s reaction had him reverting back to his previous assumption. If there was a god, he was surely cruel for making Jisoo go through such unnecessary hardship.

Unbeknown to Jisoo, Jeonghan was still in the room looking at his ex-boyfriend remorsefully. The guilt he had for keeping this secret was immediately replaced by the guilt of telling them at all. He should’ve just left this world when the reaper had first offered instead of causing this much pain to the person he loved. The only way he could fix this is if he went to speak to the reaper. As he was about to leave the room, he felt the ribbon around his ankle unwrap itself. The fabric flew freely in the air until it suddenly ignited leaving nothing behind.

With the connection cut, the spirit was no longer able to travel directly to the reaper's location. He had no idea what this meant but he could only surmise that it was nothing good.

***

When he went back to work on Monday, Jisoo seemed like a shell of his former self, which didn’t go unnoticed by his colleagues. Shortly before class started, the two knocked on his door.

“Hey Joshua is everything alright,” Seungkwan asked worry etched on his face.

The teacher looked up from his desk only now noticing the others presence. He was ready to put on a show of strength for his students but he just didn’t have it in him to to do the same with his friends. He gave the two a weak smile.

“Yeah everything is fine. Why do you ask?” Jisoo lied.

“Don’t take this the wrong way but you look kinda off,” Seokmin supplied. “You know you can always take time off work. No one would blame you after losing Jeonghan”

_Jeonghan,_ the teacher thought to himself. Jisoo had stopped mourning him and that fact struck him hard. Of course he would always remember him but his mind was now too occupied with thoughts of the reaper. How could even explain this whole situation to his friends? They’d send him to an asylum. He had no choice but to lie. He put on his best smile.

“I stayed up too late watching television to be honest. Sorry to worry you two. I’m just tired”

His colleagues didn’t look entirely convinced but decided not to push it any further.

“Okay then but if you ever need anything don’t hesitated to ask” Seungkwan said.

“Seokmin the smiling hero is here,” the other said showing his bright smile.

“God why would you say something so dumb,” Seungkwan replied.

“I’m just trying to transfer some of my good vibes to him,” he said while wiggling his arms towards Joshua

This started a bickering match between the two that was interrupted by someone clearing their throat in back of them.

“Shouldn’t you two be in your respective classrooms”

“Principal!,” the teachers shouted in unison.

“Hey Joshua I’ll take these two idiots off your hands,” Nana said.

“No need to call us idiots,” Seokmin muttered.

“I do when its merited,” she added before dragging them down the hallway by their ears

“Ow OW OW!”

The interaction made Joshua laugh improving his mood somewhat before his classes started. His students started filing in 10 minutes latre forcing the teacher to put his worries on the back burner. Seungcheol only needed some time to think. The red string that connected them wasn’t going anywhere. All he could do was be patient.

His day went by slower than desired with nagging thoughts always pestering his peace of mind. As soon as his last students left his classroom, his two friends reappeared, inviting him for some drinks. He politely declined sticking with the excuse of his tiredness. Being around people was probably a good idea but his heart was half expecting to see a certain reaper waiting for him at home.

Unfortunately, his expectations were quickly swept away as he was met with an empty home.

_He just needs some time_ , Joshua repeated to himself. It was slowly becoming a mantra that he had no choice but to believe.

***

“What do you mean you’re not going back!!,” Jeonghan shouted angrily.

“I mean I’m not gonna see Joshua anymore,” Seungcheol responded coldly.

It had taken Jeonghan sometime to  figure out the reaper’s location after their tie was cut but once he did, he promised himself he wouldn't leave without answers .

“You can’t just leave your soulmate alone. That’s not how it works!”

“There’s a lot of things you don’t understand. So stop pretending you want us to be together and just cross over. You’ve overstayed your welcome on earth”

Jeonghan was shocked. The reaper’s attitude had done a complete 180 in the short period that they were separated. The warm Seungcheol that the spirit had grown to know over the past months reverted back to his cold exterior of their first meeting. 

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you being so dense?” 

The reaper’s jaw tensed. “What about what’s wrong with you? I know you can see the gateway to the next world yet you refuse to go through it.”

He was right. The spirit had noticed a bright orb following him ever since the ribbon had been burnt. He instinctively knew that once he touched the light that his journey on earth would finally come to an end. The simple solution was tempting but Jeonghan couldn’t leave without resolving the mess he had helped create.

“I’m not crossing over until you go back to Joshua. I can’t leave this world in more of mess than it was before I died. Your soulmate is devastated by your departure. Stop being selfish and see it from his point of view.”

News of Joshua broke the reaper’s heart. He had hoped his disappearance would not have wounded the other. They had not known each other for long but Seungcheol’s heart and mind were filled with thoughts of his soulmate. He naively believed that those sentiments were not reciprocated, desiring only that Joshua forget about him as quickly as possible. Cutting contact was not gonna be as easy as Jun and Minghao made it out to be.

He was face with yet another choice to either stay away from Joshua or go to him as Jeonghan insisted. Regardless of his choice, the outcome would remain unfavourable. The first choice would hurt the young man but at least it would keep him alive. The reaper couldn’t allow his reckless behaviour to be the cause of Joshua’s death. He unfortunately had to become a worst person in the eyes of others in order to protect them.

“Jeonghan this is my final warning. This whole matter is way over your head. Just leave me alone and cross over while you still can,” Seungcheol barked, letting his frustration out on the spirit.

“Or what Seungcheol. You gonna kill me?” Jeonghan joked sarcastically. 

The reaper raised his hand while muttering to himself and just like that Jeonghan was transported outside the other’s apartment. When Jeonghan attempted to enter the building, he was abruptly pushed back.

_That fucking bastard_

_***_

“I’m glad you’re back to focusing on your job,”

“Aww Jihoon did you miss me?” Seungcheol mused. The look of disgust he received was more bark than bite as Cheol knew deep down Jihoon did actually miss him.

“It took you long enough to head my advice you big oaf”

The reaper could only chuckle not wanting to inform his friend about the real reason behind his change in behaviour. He had spent the last two weeks working himself to the point of exhaustion. Anything to get his mind off a certain young man.

“Well if you’re only gonna insult, I’ll be heading out,” Seungcheol replied half-joking.

“Ah! Don’t be sensitive. Come on let’s grab a drink,”

Seungcheol was genuinely shocked. “You wanting to drink. That’s a first”

“Shut up,” he answered while grabbing his coat. “It’s good to let off some steam sometimes”

The two quickly arrived to a quiet bar with few patrons. They each ordered a bottle of soju and spoke casually about recent events. Seungcheol had missed this. Jihoon was his superior only in title, the two having grown quite close over decades of working together. After the second bottle, it didn’t take long to see the full effect of alcohol on his friend. His skin was fairly flushed and his eyes glossy.

“Ever the lightweight Ji,” Seungcheol chuckled.

“Wwhat…no,” the other responded squinting at the reaper.

“So why are you squinting?”

“Shhhhhhh,” he said to the empty space next to Seungcheol. “I’m refocusing”

“Refocusing?” he sighed. “Jihoon, how many Seungcheol’s do you see?”

The other stopped squinting for a moment and put all his efforts into answering this question correctly.

“One?,” he answered holding up three fingers.

“Really Jihoon?”

“Kay three,” he said sheepishly. 

“And thats our signal to leave”

Seungcheol got up and paid to bill. Getting Jihoon out of the bar was more difficult considering the other still believed he was fully sober but Seungcheol much preferred this than the paranoid drunk Jihoon he had to deal with last time. After conceding to give him a piggy back ride, the two exited the bar and made their way to Jihoon’s apartment. By the time they got there, his back was heavy with a snoring man.

The reaper laid his friend on the bed who quickly took to spreading like a starfish. The night was relatively young when he stepped back outside and he had no desire to go home yet. For whatever reason, he had a sudden urge to explore this part of town letting his instincts guide him.

He had been walking for well over half an hour and the wind had grown stronger. It was only when he reached a sharp decent that he realized he had unconsciously walked all the way to the Han river. It was dark in the park with sparse patches of light coming from the lampposts.

Seungcheol looked around and found only one other person in the area. A man was sitting on an illuminated bench a few meters away. The reaper wondered why anybodywould be out on a such a cool night.

His thoughts were answered when the man suddenly turned around, staring intently at the reaper.

“Joshua,” he whispered.

***

The children had just left when Seungkwan and Seokmin loudly appeared at the door of his classroom.

“Drinks?,” the younger of the three suggested. 

Joshua didn’t really feel like going out. In fact, he hadn’t felt like doing much in the last two weeks. But he knew some time out would do him some good. Either way, a “no” would only lead to coercion from the other two.

“Sure lemme just pack up,” 

It didn’t take long before the three of them were at a nearby bar. It was still early considering they went directly after classes ended but the bartenders were used to serving the teachers from the nearby school. All three men were incredible lightweights so it came as a shock to Joshua went the others ordered two bottles of soju each. Not one to be left out, the young man did the same.

“What’s the occasion?,” Joshua asked after downing his first shot.

Seokmin’s eyes widened as if he had been caught in a lie. “Nothing. Just taking a buddy out for drinks.”

“Can’t three friends just enjoy a drink together without a reason,” Seungkwan added.

Joshua chuckled. He knew that he hadn’t been 100% himself in the past weeks but he couldn’t help it. He had his doubts that they were drinking for that exact reason but seeing his friends stumbling for an explanation confirmed it.

“You’re right! Any reason is a good reason,” Joshua replied before downing another shot. 

By the time they were on their third bottle each, the bar had set up the stage for the weekly karaoke night. As soon as he spotted the microphone, Seungkwan bolted to the stage almost toppling over the table in the process. Unsurprisingly, he chose to sing a girl group song, more specifically Baam. Watching Seungkwan sing was entertaining not only because he had a great voice but also because he always put on a show. Not one to be upstaged, Seokmin quickly grabbed the mic and sang his rendition of Shine, jumping around the stage as if performing for a crowd. On a regular day, Joshua would never go up but today felt different. So when his friend offered the mic to him, he accepted it and chose the ever classic Sunday morning. His friends were sick of hearing it but the other people in the bar were quite enjoying his performance.

They called it a night after many rounds of karaoke. They were all tired even if it was still early mostly because they had started drinking hours before the sun had set. Seungkwan and Seokmin said their goodbyes half slurring before hopping in a shared cab. Even though they lived a mere two minutes from each other, one of them was sure to crash at the others.

Joshua considered going straight home but decided a walk in the brisk weather would do him some good. He had no specific route in mind and began wandering the streets of Seoul following whatever direction he felt like.

He had lost track of time when he stumbled upon the Han river. The dimly lit park felt somehow comforting and he chose to sit on one of the nearby benches to appreciate the sounds of the soft waves crashing on the cemented shore.

He was there for about five minutes when he suddenly felt another presence. More than that he felt someone staring at him. He was in no mood to start a confrontation tonight and was simply going to get up and leave. But his curiosity got the best of him as he turned to look at whatever gave him this strange feeling.

When he caught sight of the person staring, he momentarily lost his breath. 

“Seungcheol,” he whispered.

He stood up immediately and started sprinting towards the other man in hopes that he would catch up before he disappeared. Thankfully, the reaper seemed too shocked to make any such movements. His sprint came to an abrupt stop when he crashed into Seungcheol wrapping his arms around the other’s torso. Seungcheol instinctively did the same bringing the young man even closer. Without warning, tears began streaming down Joshua’s face soaking Seungcheol’s shirt.

“I’m so sorry Joshua. I never meant for it to hurt you,” the reaper whispered in his ear. 

“Why—Why did you leave?” Joshua hiccuped. Seungcheol debated whether to answer truthfully but one look at the wrecked young man scrapped the debate aside.

“I did it to protect you,” he answered untangling their embrace. “Let’s sit. I have some explaining to do,” and so he did. Seungcheol told Joshua all about his encounter with the Gods and the consequences they would face if they were to be together. After the explanation, the young man stayed quiet for several minutes.

“We can fight it, no?” Joshua finally asked. “Just like Wonwoo and Mingyu did”

“But Josh—“

“Seungcheol I’ve spent two weeks in misery because you weren’t there with me. I can’t imagine spending more time without you,”

“Joshua I”

“Shut up for a minute and let me finish!,” Joshua exclaimed obviously needing to say this all in one go. “What I’m trying to say is i think…I love you”

The words took a moment to process in Seungcheol’s head and when he looked back at Joshua he knew that’s what he felt too. Without warning, he leaned in to lock their lips in a kiss sending a spark throughout their bodies. Joshua deepened the kiss encircling his arms around the reaper’s neck. As they separated from each other, a bright red light appeared on each of their pinkies and started descending. The lights seemed to be following a predetermined line before meeting in the middle, combining to create a blinding red flash. When the two opened their eyes, they took in the now completed red string connecting both of them. Their fate was sealed. Memories of their past life flooded their minds bringing feelings of sorrow and pain but most of all love and happiness. They were one again as they had been centuries ago. 

They locked eyes again allowing Seungcheol to return the words of the other. “I love you too”. In that short instance, both felt on top of the world, untouchable to all.

However, the scene did not unfold without spectators. In the nearby distance, Jeonghan surveyed both of them intently. This is what he wanted. For the two soulmates to be together as fate intended. But seeing the whole thing develop in front of him left a bitter taste in his mouth. Why couldn’t that be him with Joshua? The guiltiness he had felt was lifted but was replaced by something much more sinister. A blooming feeling of jealousy.

Hidden in the shadows of a nearby tree were another set of spectators. A cat and crow stared carefully at the illuminated couple in front of them. Their dilated eyes seeing through the darkness and analyzing the red string connecting the two. After a moment, the creatures turned and disappeared further into the shadows.

***

“So what do you need me for this time?” Joy asked taking a seat across from two men dressed in dark clothing.

“What a polite way to speak to us” Minghao replied sarcastically. “Don’t you know we have hundreds of other options.”

She leaned in. “Yes but you came back to me didn’t you?,” answering with a smirk.

Jun chuckled at the audacity on this woman. “Enough with the pleasantries. We have a simple job for you. Just one soul to corrupt”

“I don’t know. Your last simple job almost turned into a full blown confrontation”

“We paid you fairly for your efforts” Minghao bit back. “It’s a simple in and out this time and anyways the soul is already partially corrupted. We just need you to act as a catalyst”

“Sounds interesting. Who’s this poor person that merits your wrath?”

This time both men smirked. “You’ve actually met him before,” Jun added conjuring up an image of the man. “A certain Yoon Jeonghan and I’m sure you can complete the assignment without knowing the reason behind it.”

“That’s true but knowing makes the job much more interesting,” Joy said.

“All you need to know is that a certain love affair has facilitated your job” Minghao paused. “Fate was not too kind of him.” He added as an afterthought.

Joy looked at the image again. “Jealousy…what a beautiful thing”

She stood up and made her way towards the exit, stopping only at the door.

“I’ll take the job”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can follow me on Twitter @carat_lyfe

**Author's Note:**

> I tried finishing the first chapter before leaving for 2 weeks. I won't be able to write during that time but I will try to post the next chapter as soon as possible.


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